Фота: t.me/viasna96.
Belarus has handed down a harsh sentence in the case of the independent Barysau art space “Bottle Warehouse.” On September 14, political prisoners Siarhei Salash and Dzmitry Babitski were each sentenced to five years in a maximum-security penal colony, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.
In addition to the prison terms, the court fined both men 800 base units (36,000 rubles) each and ordered them to pay back allegedly “criminally obtained income” in a large amount.
The basis for the criminal prosecution was the activities of the Barysau art space “Bottle Warehouse,” which the KGB designated as an “extremist formation” in early December 2025.
According to human rights defenders:
Siarhei Salash is a well-known public figure in Barysau. He previously took an active part in election campaigns and ran for parliament as an opposition candidate, but completely withdrew from politics in the 2010s, devoting himself to business and cultural projects. He was detained on November 12, 2025, and for a long time the security forces did not disclose the substance of the charges against him.
Dzmitry Babitski was detained on December 12, 2025 — several days after the KGB added the “Bottle Warehouse” initiative to its blacklist.
Both defendants were held in pretrial detention for nine months before the verdict was handed down.
The “Bottle Warehouse” case is another episode in the systematic destruction of independent cultural and civic infrastructure in Belarusian regions. The regime continues to criminalize any communities and creative spaces beyond state control, equating cultural activities with “extremism.”