Medical student receives 4-year prison sentence in Belarus

On 12 November 2021, a 21-year-old BSMU student Uladzislau Martsinovich was sentenced to four years in prison for running the Belye Khalaty (White Robes) Telegram channel. He was found guilty of “calling for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus”. According to the prosecution, the distribution of materials on the Telegram channel was allegedly aimed at “destabilizing the situation in the country, artificially aggravating tension and confrontation, spreading the ideology of extremism, and weakening the sense of patriotism in the society”. The political prisoner had spent about a year in the Minsk detention center No. 1 before the trial took place.

Mr. Martsinovich shared some plans for the future in his last word. Regardless of the sentence, he wants to graduate from the university, finally become a doctor and treat people, continue engaging in research, and contribute to the development of digital medicine and eHealth. He said: “My goal is to ensure that our civilization makes progress and succeeds in moral, technological, and intellectual development.”