In April 2025, security forces claimed that Belarusian citizen Matvei Bialyai had been deported from Lithuania to Belarus. Human rights centre Viasna later found out that Bialyai had returned to Belarus voluntarily. In Belarus, he was ordered to undergo compulsory treatment.
In 2021, Bialyai was tried in Belarus on hooliganism charges after striking the door of the Government House with a hammer in March 2021. He was ordered to undergo compulsory treatment.
Bialyai later moved to Lithuania. There, he was detained over an incident involving the Belarusian embassy: in April 2023, a lit memorial candle was thrown at the building. In January 2024, a Lithuanian court sentenced Bialyai to 11 months of corrective labour. Taking into account the time he had spent in custody before trial, the court in Vilnius ruled that he had already served his sentence.
In March 2025, Bialyai ‘s social media accounts stopped being updated. At the beginning of April, a Telegram channel linked to GUBOPiK claimed that he had been deported from Lithuania.
According to Viasna, Bialyai returned to Belarus voluntarily. He was detained on March 10, 2025, as part of a criminal case opened back in 2023.
In autumn 2025, Bialyai was tried under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code, “Active participation in group actions that grossly violate public order”, Part 4 of Article 16 and Article 341 of the Criminal Code, “Incitement to damage property or deface buildings”, and Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code, insulting Lukashenka. The Barysau District Court ordered him to undergo compulsory treatment in a psychiatric hospital with enhanced supervision.
It should be noted that Bialyai has a controversial reputation. Activists who knew him said that he opened several fundraising campaigns through various foundations, collected money from diaspora communities in several countries, caused disturbances in shelters and behaved aggressively.
