On 14 October security officers went to the relatives of Marina Kosinerova, co-founder of the human rights initiative Dissidentby. From seven in the morning until nine at night. Some were told she had supposedly returned to Belarus. Others were told she would be deported anyway and given a long sentence. That is her own account on Facebook. The in-absentia trial of her and her husband, Vyacheslav Kosinerov, is set for 16 October.
What she wrote
She wrote the post in Belarusian. The sense of it: the day after tomorrow is the in-absentia trial, and people in uniform and out of uniform got agitated. From 7 in the morning until 9 in the evening they went to every relative they could reach. In one place they passed on the boss’s words: she had “come home.” In another, that they would “deport her anyway and sooner or later she will be with them,” plus a “long sentence.” That is how Reform.news renders the post. “Today” in it is 14 October. “The day after tomorrow” is the trial.
She links the visits to a petition: that she and her lawyer be allowed to see the case. What the paper said, and what the court answered, is not in the reports. What the officers told the relatives is her account, not a record.
The trial on 16 October
On 7 October Viasna said the in-absentia hearing would open on 16 October at the Zavodski district court in Minsk. Both are accused. The wording is: creating an “extremist formation” or taking part in one, inciting social enmity, discrediting Belarus, insulting dictator Lukashenka, and assisting “extremist” activity. Marina is additionally accused of creating an “extremist formation” again, or of leading one. These reports do not give article numbers. There is no verdict yet: as of 15 October the trial had only been scheduled.
What Dissidentby is
Marina and Vyacheslav Kosinerov founded the initiative in 2019. It gathers information on political prosecutions and helps political prisoners and their families. Since 29 November 2023 the Belarusian authorities have listed Dissidentby as an “extremist formation.” Legally it is a Polish foundation, registered in Poznań on 23 November 2022. Yesterday’s news does not say where the Kosinerovs themselves live now. The threat of “deportation” in her post means one thing: they are looking for her as a person who is not in Belarus.