21 July and whose appeals were rejected by the Supreme Court on 20 December, and Viktar Liotau who was sentenced on 22 September. Kiryl Kazachok, who was sentenced on 28 December 2016, chose not to appeal. or detained for five to 25 days. All but one arrested individual were found guilty in summary trials; courts uniformly accepted police reports as evidence against them without any questioning. PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE Heavy restrictions on NGOs remained in place. Under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code, the founding, or participation in, the activities of an unregistered organization remained a crime punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. On 25 March, masked police officers raided the office of human rights group Vyasna and arrested all 57 people present. Among them were local and international human rights defenders and journalists who were attending training on how to monitor demonstrations. They were held for three hours at the local police station and released without charge or explanation. One detainee was hospitalized for head injuries sustained during the arrest. Dozens of protesters were sentenced for their peaceful activism. On 7 April, Zavodski District Court in Minsk changed Dzmitry Paliyenka’s conditional sentence from 2016 to two years’ imprisonment after he received two administrative penalties. His first administrative penalty on 10 March 2017 – a seven-day detention for “minor hooliganism” and “disobedience to lawful police demands” – was imposed after he vocally criticized the verdict at a trial he was observing. His second administrative penalty on 20 March 2017 – a 15-day detention for “organizing or participating in unsanctioned mass events” – was imposed for his peaceful protest on 25 February against the construction of a building in central Minsk. Dzmitry Paliyenka received the two-year suspended sentence for purportedly assaulting a police officer during a peaceful cyclists’ protest in Minsk in April 2016. FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY In February and March, thousands of people attended a series of peaceful rallies across the country to protest against the tax on the unemployed. Some of the organizers and participants reported harassment by the police, including brief detentions and police summons for questioning. On 25 March, police prevented peaceful protesters from assembling in central Minsk and arrested hundreds; some arrests were made using excessive force. Some protesters were severely beaten by law enforcement officials during arrest and in police custody. Between February and April, over 900 people were arrested in connection with the protests, including political activists who were prevented from attending the protests and journalists. At least 177 were found guilty of purported administrative offences and fined 90 FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION Official accreditation remained compulsory for anyone working for a foreign media outlet and continued to be routinely and arbitrarily denied. More than 100 print, radio and TV journalists and bloggers were arrested for not having obtained accreditation, some repeatedly, leading to fines. In at least eight cases, journalists reporting from protests were arrested as participants and sentenced to administrative detention of between five and 15 days. Journalist Larysa Schyryakova, from the city Homel in southeastern Belarus, was arrested and fined repeatedly for reporting on protests. She reported that police warned her that she could be found “socially irresponsible” if she committed further administrative offences and that her 11-yearold son might be placed in a children’s home. LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS The tax on the unemployed remained in place; failure to comply continued to incur administrative fines and compulsory Amnesty International Report 2017/18