Member of the Belarusian Free Trade Union Viktar Haŭrylavec convicted

It has become known that yet another member of the independent trade union movement in Belarus has fallen victim to political persecution. Viktar Haŭrylavec, a member of the Belarusian Free Trade Union (SPB), was convicted under the charge of so-called “facilitating extremist activity”.

Viktar Haŭrylavec is 39 years old. He comes from the Lelchytsy district, graduated from the Faculty of Physics at Belarusian State University, and also obtained a second degree in economic cybernetics. In recent years, he worked as a research fellow at the Branch Laboratory of Radiation Safety of the Institute for Nuclear Problems of Belarusian State University, where he was engaged in mathematical modelling of physical processes and research into radiation in crystals.

Haŭrylavec is a researcher of international standing. He was a co-author of publications within the Future Circular Collider (FCC) project, the European project for a future supercollider intended to succeed the Large Hadron Collider. His academic work has been cited thousands of times in international journals, which is a very strong result for a Belarusian scientist.

In addition to his scientific work, Viktar was an active member of the Open Source community and supported the Belarusian language in the IT sphere. He worked on the translation and adaptation of the interfaces of Ubuntu, Inkscape and GNOME, so that Belarusians could use free software in their native language.

The authorities used Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code against him — “facilitating extremist activity”. As a result, the court sentenced him to restricted freedom at home. This is yet another confirmation that repression in Belarus has long since gone beyond the political opposition and now affects scientists, IT specialists, trade union members, and all those who do not fit into the model of total state control.

Read in blr