Catholic priest Henrykh Akalatovich is sentenced to 11 years in prison in Belarus

The Catholic priest Henrykh Akalatovich was sentenced on Monday in Belarus to 11 years in prison for “high treason”, an accusation that Alexander Lukashenko’s regime applies to political prisoners, said the representative of a human rights organization.

The news was announced by the Viasna Human Rights Center. In its X account, the organization noted that the 64-year-old Catholic priest has denied “all charges.”

Viasna recalled that the priest has already suffered a heart attack and before his arrest in November 2023 he underwent surgery for cancer. “He needs special attention and treatment, but instead he has been sentenced to very harsh conditions for political charges,” the organization denounced.

In statements to the agency Associated Press (AP)the representative of Viasna, Pavel Sapelka, pointed out that Father Akalatovich is the first Catholic priest convicted in Belarus “for criminal charges brought against political prisoners” since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

“The harsh sentence is intended to intimidate and silence hundreds of other priests before the presidential election in January,” he said.

In December 2024 The Tablet cited a statement from the Catholic Episcopate that asks priests to limit their appearances in the media

“Clergymen and religious must remember that they are called to preach the teaching of Christ, not their own opinions and views, especially those that could cause confusion, scandal or division… This includes refraining from political statements and expressions,” states the text cited by The Tablet.

For its part, AP reported that the conviction against Father Akalatovich “occurs as Belarusian authorities intensify their crackdown on dissent ahead of the January 26 presidential election, which will almost certainly give President Alexander Lukashenko a seventh term.”

Belarus declared independence from the Soviet Union in December 1991 and held its first free elections in 1994, which were won by Lukashenko.

However, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ally has remained in power by imposing an authoritarian regime. According to Viasna, in Belarus there are more than 1,200 political prisoners.

Religious freedom in Belarus

According to the Religious Freedom Report 2023 of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Alexander Lukashenko declares himself an “orthodox atheist” and carries out authoritarian repression with “devastating consequences for civil society and human rights, including religious freedom.”

The document points out that Catholics are between 10 and 12% of the population and that groups “that are not within the Orthodox structures of the Belarusian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate” suffer restrictions such as, for example, the “arbitrary denial of work permits for clerics not related to the Moscow Patriarchate.”

The report recalls the pressure exerted against the then Archbishop of Minsk and Mogilov, Bishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz, for calling for an end to violence against protesters who denounced fraud in the 2020 elections, with which Lukashenko remains in power .

In addition, the regime monitors believers through the secret police and controls them with its Plenipotentiary for Religious and Ethnic Affairs. “Surveillance extends to publications through censorship, and to Internet publications by penalizing users for the content published,” notes ACN.

“Most human rights, including religious freedom, are at risk due to the authoritarian nature of the Government of Belarus,” the ACN report reiterates.