At Least Eight Political Prisoners Face New Criminal Cases For “Malicious Disobedience” In Six Months

Reform.news Editorial Team · 14 November 2026, 10:56

https://reform.news/en/at-least-eight-political-prisoners-face-new-criminal-cases-for-malicious-disobedience-in-six-months/

Over the past six months, new criminal cases have been opened against at least eight political prisoners in Belarus under Article 411 of the Criminal Code, which concerns malicious disobedience to the demands of correctional facility administrations. Three other prisoners are at risk of prosecution under the same article, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

According to human rights defenders, some of these political prisoners had already been convicted of “malicious disobedience” several times.

Article 411 allows authorities to open new criminal cases against people who are already serving prison sentences and repeatedly impose additional terms of imprisonment. In some cases, prisoners learn of a new case shortly before their expected release.

Former political prisoners who have faced this practice compare the wait for new criminal cases and the uncertainty surrounding it to torture.

According to Viasna, since 2020, at least 88 people, including five women, have been convicted under Article 411.

Human rights defenders have been campaigning for years to remove Article 411 from the Criminal Code. Under this provision, authorities punish prisoners for disciplinary violations committed in correctional facilities, even though they have already been penalized for those violations by being placed in a punishment cell (SHIZO) or a cell-type facility (PKT).

As of today, several political prisoners remain behind bars solely on the basis of convictions under this article, including Uladzimir Kniha, Aleh Yafremenka, Andrei Navitski, Pavel Aucharau and Dzmitry Ivashkou.