On September 13, 2024, the Minsk prosecutor’s office announced that Igor Melnikov (Ігар Мельнікаў), a historian at Belarusian State Medical University, had been convicted and sentenced to four years in prison for “facilitating extremist activities” in apparent connection to an interview he conducted with Euroradio, a Belarusian news organization with offices in both Poland and Belarus.

Melnikov was arrested on January 21, 2024 for an interview he gave to Euroradio two years prior. The Belarusian government later designated Euroradio as an “extremist formation” and banned it. According to the prosecutor in Melnikov’s case, the historian was charged because of Euroradio’s designation, despite the fact that it was banned after Melnikov’s interview took place.

A few weeks prior to the trial, three of Melnikov’s books were labeled “extremist.”

On September 10, Melnikov’s trial began at the Minsk City Court. During the trial, the prosecution claimed that Melnikov’s interview with Euroradio was intended to promote “extremist activities,” such as spreading extremist media, encouraging more people to engage in extremist activities, and distributing extremist content. He reportedly pleaded guilty.

The court convicted Melnikov for “facilitating extremist activities” and sentenced him to four years in a general-security colony.

On November 22, 2024, following his conviction, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added Melnikov to Belarus’s list of “persons involved in extremist activities.”

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the arbitrary conviction and sentencing of a scholar in apparent retaliation for his academic work, and nonviolent exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and freedom of association—conduct that is expressly protected under international human rights instruments, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Belarus is a party. State authorities must respect academic freedom and nonviolent expressive conduct and refrain from actions intended to punish, restrict, or deter such conduct.

Sources:
https://prisoners.spring96.org/be/person/ihar-melnikau
https://spring96.org/be/news/116249
https://pozirk.online/be/news/104901/
https://www.svaboda.org/a/33119024.html
https://www.svaboda.org/a/33212466.html
https://euroradio.fm/gistoryka-igara-melnikava-asudzili-na-4-gady-znyavolennya
https://euroradio.fm/u-belarusi-try-knigi-gistoryka-igara-melnikava-pryznali-ekstremisckimi