Jul 8 - Nov 26, 2020 CASES OF ARREST, PRESSURE AND DISMISSAL REGARDING ATHLETES AND SPORTS SPECIALISTS IN Andrey Kravchenko, silver medalist in athletics of the 2008 , two times silver medalist of World Championships, European champion, forced to quit his job in KGB after signing the Open Letter. Krauchanka was de- tained and sentenced without a lawyer to 10 days of imprisonment, subjected to physical and psychological violence in a temporary detention center. He is one of the active members of the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Aliaksandra Herasiminia, two times silver medalist in swimming of the London 2012 Olympics, bronze medalist of the Rio 2016 Olympics, world and European champion, swimming coach, received a refusal to prolong a rental of swimming pool for her sports club due to her active civil position and membership in the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Aliaksandra Ramanouskaya, 2019 World champion in , two-time champion of the 2019 Winter , Belarusian athlete of the year in 2019, excluded from the national team according to the order of the National Olympic Center (become valid from October 16) for signing the Open Letter and expressing her civil position against violence and dictatorship. Ramanouskaya is one of the active members of the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Yelena Leuchanka, bronze medalist of the 2007 European Championship in basketball, two-time Olympian, best center of the 2010 World championship, 2010 WNBA finalist, Lithuanian, Russian and Polish League champion, sentenced to 15 days in jail for participation in an unauthorized protest action, was in rough condi- tions there, including being denied showers, exercise hours and functioning toilets during a trial. The second court sentenced to pay a fine around 277 euro. Leuchan- ka is one of the active members of the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Volha Mazuronak, 2018 European champion in athletics, winner of multiple inter- national tournaments, 5th place at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, national record holder in marathon and half marathon, after signing the Open Letter was forced to serve in the military; her salary was cut and became 5 times less. Mazuronak was deprived of the possibility to train normally and prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 2 Darya Barysevich, athletics, middle-distance runner, silver medalist of the 2017 World Championships, silver medalist of the European Games, after signing the Open Letter was excluded from the national team despite she qualifies to the To- kyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Sviatlana Kudzelich, silver medalist in athletics of the European Championships, excluded from the national team, lost her job at the Ministry of Emergency Situa- tions for her civil position and signing the Open Letter.

Stsiapan Papou, European and world champion in sambo, European Games champion, owner of the Fair Play diploma, Honorable Master of Sports of Belarus, lost his stipends paid in Belarus for outstanding results in Olympic Games, world and European competitions. Papou is one of the active members of the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Aliaksandr Vakhaviak, judo athlete, multiple times medalist of the World Cup, Gran Prix and other international tournaments, medalist of the world and Europe- an championships in sambo, after signing the Open Letter was excluded from the national team and dismissed from the Department of Conservation of the Ministry of the Internal A!airs.

Dzmitry Shershan, judo athlete, two-time medalist of the European champion- ships, multiple times winner and medalist of the Grand Prix series tournaments, Grand Slam winner, world ranked 3 in 2015, represented Belarus at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, after signing the Open Letter was forced to serve in the military and then excluded from the national team.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 3 Nikolay Kozeko, head coach of National Freestyle Skiing Team, a coach of the 4 Olympic champions, lost his scholarship from the special fund of the President of Belarus; obliged to pay back all the money given to him during the last year for signing the Open Letter and expressing in mass media his position against vio- lence and political repression.

Gennady Savilov, President of the Federation of Belarus, Deputy Chairman of the 2021 IIHF World Championships Organizing Committee, dismissed from his two positions for his refusal to participate in action in support of the dicta- torship regime.

Vadim Devyatovskiy, President of the Belarus Athletic Federation, quit his job on the results of extraordinary elections held by the Federation. Before this, he posted in Facebook “Lukashenko is not my President!!!!!” and stated in his interview that he was disappointed by the current Belarusian authorities, he had supported before. After this interview, there was no news on his location and well-being for almost a month.

Anatol Kotau, former Secretary General of the National Olympic Committee of Be- larus, Vice President of the Directorate of the 2nd European Games, resigned from the Presidential Property Management Directorate, because of his unwillingness to keep silence and accept violence and tortures undertaken by the law enforcement agencies.

Aliaksandr Rummo, head coach of the U17 National Ice Hockey Team, forced to resign from his job for signing the Open Letter, expressing his civil position against violence and because “the coach of the national team must support the authorities and the general line of the party”.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 4 Gennady Tapunov, director of National Olympic Athletics Training Center, dis- missed after a large number of athletes and couches of the center signed the Open Letter, expressed their protest against violence towards civilian population in the mass media and published their civil position in social media.

Vadim Krivosheev, director of Freestyle Olympic Center, dismissed under article of the Labour Code for “pure ideological work with the sta!”.

Vladimir Nesterovich, Press Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, re- signed after his refusal to support violence towards civil population and propagan- dize the dictatorship regime.

Eduard Venskij, President of the Belarusian Volleyball Federation, resigned after Belarusian volleyball players supported peaceful protests and signed the Open Letter.

Viktor Bulat, massage therapist of the National Football Team, no longer involved in the work with the National Team due to signing the Open Letter expressing his civil position and condemning the actions of Belarusian authorities and law en- forcement agencies.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 5 Pavel Sitenkov, swimming coach, experienced violent drubbing and other tortures from the riot police, with four spins broken stay under recovery treatment in a hospital.

Konstantin Yakovlev, head coach of the handball club Viciaz-Leon, dismissed after signing the Open Letter and expressing protest against violence towards civil population.

Alena Maseikava, manager of the Raubichi National Olympic Winter Sports Train- ing Center, dismissed after signing the Open Letter.

Dzianis Kulaga, Greco-Roman wrestling coach, dismissed from two positions in sports schools after signing the Open Letter.

Valiantsina Zeliankevich, triathlon athlete, swimming coach, expelled as an athlete from National Olympic Cycling Training Center, dismissed from two positions: as an athlete of Cycling Club and as a coach in Tristyle triathlon club after publish- ing her civil position in social media.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 6 Sergey Sheluta, taekwondo coach, dismissed from his job in a sports school after signing the Open Letter.

Andrey Radziuk, volleyball player, dismissed from his job at the Ministry of the Emergency Situations after signing the Open Letter.

Vladislav Zhurkevich, head of the Ice Preparation Department at the Minsk Arena (the major ice hockey arena in Belarus), dismissed for his civil position and unwill- ingness to remain indi!erent to the events taking place in Belarus.

Sergey Shchurko, sports journalist of one of the major Belarusian sports media Pressball that contributed to sports events organization, raising funds for charity foundations, sentenced to 15 days in jail due to participation in peaceful protests.

Philip Shutov, American football player of the Litwins team, two-time champion of Belarus, multiple times champion of international tournaments, detained on Octo- ber 11, fined 250 euro.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 7 Maria Shakuro, captain of the Belarus national rugby team, bronze medalist of the European Beach Rugby Championships, detained on October 11 and sentenced to 10 days in jail for participation in an unauthorized protest action. Before this, she signed the Open Letter.

Maria Shuliakevich, specialist of the Raubichi National Olympic Winter Sports Training Center, former dismissed after signing the Open Letter.

Konstantin Poley, coach of the Pride sports club, detained on October 7 and sen- tenced to 15 days in jail, the investigations were made at his place of residence.

Sergey Kazeka, football player of the FC Krumkachy, detained on his way home and directed to the Okrestina detention center, then released, but needed medical help because of having vertebral fracture.

Pavel Rassolko, football player of the FC Krumkachy, detained on his way home and directed to the Okrestina detention center, then released.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 8 Olga Zakharova, head of the sports center House of Sport in Mogilev, dismissed due to expressing her civil position, participation in peaceful protests and wearing white bracelet on her wrist.

Yury Martynov, volleyball player, dismissed from his job at the Ministry of the Emer- gency Situations after signing the Open Letter.

Oleg Dubitskiy, athletics, excluded from the list of Olympic Reserve Center after signing the Open Letter.

Yury Bulat, muay thai coach, former multiple times world champion, sentenced to 15 days in jail for participation in the unauthorized protest action despite the witness that he and his family were at another place that time.

Aliaksandra Sitnikava, muay thai athlete, sentenced to 15 days in jail for participat- ing in an unauthorized protest action.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 9 Igor Boyar, American football player of the Litwins team, two-time champion of Belarus, multiple times champion of the Eastern League, detained on October 10, sentenced to 15 days in jail for participating in an unauthorized protest action.

Yilia Chepa, photographer of the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, dismissed for her civil position.

Alexey Kudin, 5-time world champion in muay thai, 2-time world champion in kick- boxing, world champion in among professionals, Honorable Master of Sports of Belarus, prosecuted and fined 220 euro for participation in an unautho- rized protest action.

Mikhail Zaleuski, the general director of FC BATE, dismissed after expressing pro- test against violence towards civil population from the side of the law enforcement agencies in social media.

Vasili Khamutouski, a football goalkeeper coach of the FC Dinamo Brest, dis- missed for the active civil position.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 10 Evgeniy Mazuro, acting director of the hockey club Lokomotiv Orsha, dismissed for signing the Open Letter.

Vladislav Kovalev, number one player in Belarusian chess, grandmaster, dismissed from the national team after signing the Open Letter and refusing to sign an addi- tional agreement to the contract with the Republican Center for Olympic Training in Drafts and Chess (the agreement which limits public speaking freedom of athletes).

Chess FIDE School in Minsk was deprived of its premises (premises belong to the NOC of Belarus), because of the civil position and signing the Open Letter by the school owner Anastasia Sorokina, President of Belarusian Chess Federation, Vice President of FIDE.

Natalya Petrakova, one of the most famous Belarusian handball players, senior coach of the women’s handball national team, dismissed from her position due to signing the Open Letter.

Konstantin Gribov, national handball team director (head of the team), dismissed from his position due to signing the Open Letter

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 11 Yahor Mescharakov, top Belarusian and international basketball player, ex-Deputy President of the Belarusian Basketball Federation, prosecuted and fined around 200 euro for participating in peaceful protests. Yahor Mescharakov is one of the active members of the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Anton Soroka, a football player, forward of FC BATE and the national team, sen- tenced to 7 days in jail for participating in peaceful protests against the results of the presidential elections in Belarus.

Andrey Arkhipov, a football player of Belarusian FC LIDA, forced to leave the club after being recorded on the video against violence in Belarus of the Belarusian football community

Maksim Tsymbal, Deputy President of the Belarusian Water Polo Federation, sentenced to 8 days in prison for participation in protest actions, the investigations were made at his place of residence.

Mikita Staravoitau, physiotherapist who worked with , junior hockey and weightlifting national teams, detained and after 2 days fined around 87 euro. Be- fore this he signed the Open Letter and supported a nationwide strike.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 12 Dzmitry Kataeu, hockey coach of HC Yunost junior teams, dismissed after signing the Open Letter.

Andrey Markovich, administrator of HC Dinamo Minsk, resigned because his civil position is not the same as the position of the club. Before this he signed the Open Letter.

Anastasia Sorokina, FIDE Vice President, President of Belarusian Chess Feder- ation, Belarusian chess Woman International Master (WIM), International Arbiter, FIDE Trainer, detained for 7 hours during an investigation of the Belarusian Chess Federation activities; her phone and flash cards were seized. Before this she signed the Open Letter.

Dzmitry Basyleu, head coach of the national sambo team, dismissed because “his civil position is not compatible with the position of the head coach of a national team”. Before this he signed the Open Letter.

Uladzimir Berazhkou, sports director of the Belarusian Ice Hockey Association, dis- missed due to termination of contract. Before this, Berazhkou condemned in social media the use of violence against civilians by law enforcement o"cers.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 13 Ivan Ganin, multiple champion of Belarus in kickboxing and muay thai, detained and sentenced to 10 days of imprisonment, subjected to physical and psycholog- ical violence in a temporary detention center. Ganin is one of the active members of the Belarus Athletes Free Union.

Volha Khizhinkova, ex-press o"cer of FC Dynamo Brest, miss Belarus title holder, detained on November 8 and sentenced to 12 days of imprisonment for participa- tion in unauthorized protest actions. The second court prolonged the term to 27 days. Khizhinkova is being subjected to physical and psychological violence and tortures.

Rostislav Shavel, football player of FC Gorodeya, repeatedly detained and sen- tenced to 13 days of imprisonment for participation in an unauthorized protest action. Before that he stayed in prison for 8 days accused by the same provisions.

Roman Gaev, football player of FC Dnepr Rogachev, detained and fined for partici- pation in an unauthorized protest action.

Andrei Shcherbatsiuk, jiu-jitsu athlete, European champion, detained and sen- tenced to 8 days of imprisonment for participation in an unauthorized protest action.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 14 Ruslan Pratasenia, the football coach, detained and sentenced to 14 days of im- prisonment for asking a policeman whether it is allowed to commemorate mur- dered Belarusian citizen Raman Bandarenka.

Aliaksandr Sharabaika, fitness coach, detained and sentences to 17 days of impris- onment for the action he didn’t take part in and despite a witness’s testimony.

BSSF – Support Us | Cases of arrest, pressure and dismissal (Jul 8 - Nov 4, 2020) 15 Contact Us

BSSF Facebook page: facebook.com/bss#el BSSF Telegram: @BSSFoundation E-mail: bss#[email protected]

Support BSSF

Follow this link to donate

Photos of the Newsletter: www.tut.by, www.by.tribuna.com, www.pressball.by, IOC, personal archives.