Many Wikipedia editors have been imprisoned by their governments for contributing to the free-content online encyclopedia.
Mark Bernstein (Russian: Марк Израйлевич Бернштейн), a Belarusian editor of the Russian Wikipedia, was detained on 11 March 2022 for violating the Russian 2022 war censorship laws by editing Wikipedia articles about the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and sentenced to 15 days detention and three years of restricted freedom. [1] [2] [3]
Pavel Pernikaŭ (Belarusian: Павел Аляксандравіч Пернікаў), [lower-alpha 1] a Belarusian editor of the Belarusian Wikipedia, was sentenced on 7 April 2022 to two years in a penal colony for online postings "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" including two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus. [4] [5] [6]
Osama Khalid (Arabic: أسامة خالد), a former Saudi Arabian administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was sentenced to five years imprisonment in September 2020 for "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." [7] Khalid's sentence was increased to 32 years in September 2022 as part of a campaign to lengthen the sentences of political detainees, according to Democracy for the Arab World Now and SMEX, a Lebanese non-governmental organization. [8] [9]
Ziyad al-Sofiani (Arabic: زياد السفياني), also a former administrator of the Arabic Wikipedia, was likewise charged with "swaying public opinion" and "violating public morals" by making edits "critical about the persecution of political activists in the country." He was sentenced in September 2020 to eight years in prison. [7] [8] [9]
Bassel Khartabil (Arabic : باسل خرطبيل) was a contributor to a number of open-source projects including Wikipedia; his arrest in 2012 was likely connected to his online activity. He was executed at Adra Prison near Damascus in 2015. [10] Several organizations, including the Wikimedia Foundation, established the Bassel Khartabil Free Culture Fellowship in his honor in 2017, for an initial period of three years. [11]
The Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) is a Belarusian professional association of journalists from independent media, created in 1995 to protect freedom of speech, freedom of information, promote the professional standards of journalism, conduct monitoring of Belarusian press, and offer legal support to all media workers.
Belorusy i rynok is the main business weekly newspaper published in Belarus. The publication was banned by the Ministry of information of the Republic of Belarus on December 12, 2022.
Censorship in Belarus, although prohibited by the country's constitution, is enforced by a number of laws. These include a law that makes insulting the president punishable by up to five years in prison, and another that makes criticizing Belarus abroad punishable by up to two years in prison.
Alyaksey Kazlow is a Belarusian professional footballer. He played for Belarus in all three of their games at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Censorship of Wikipedia by governments has occurred widely in countries including China, Iran, Myanmar, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, and Venezuela. Some instances are examples of widespread Internet censorship in general that includes Wikipedia content. Others are indicative of measures to prevent the viewing of specific content deemed offensive. The duration of different blocks has varied from hours to years.
The free online encyclopedia Wikipedia was briefly blocked in Russia in August 2015. Some articles of Wikipedia were included into various censorship lists disseminated by the government. Further threats to block were made following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Veronika Valeryevna Tsepkalo or Veranika Valereuna Tsapkala is a Belarusian political activist.
Pavel Pavlovich Latushko is a Belarusian politician and diplomat. He was the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Belarus from 2009 to 2012.
Nexta is a Belarusian media outlet that is primarily distributed through Telegram and YouTube channels. The YouTube channel was founded by then 17-year-old student Stsiapan Putsila. The channel's headquarters are located in Warsaw, Poland, after its founder went into exile.
Andrej Skurko is a Belarusian journalist, chief editor of "Nasha Niva" newspaper in 2006–2017. In July 2021 he was arrested for alleged debts of the newspaper to the state electric company. On March 15, 2022, he was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Human rights activists recognized him as a political prisoner.
Jahor Aljaksandravič Marcinovič is a Belarusian journalist who is currently serving as chief editor of Nasha Niva since 2017. In July 2021 he was arrested for alleged debts of the newspaper to the electric company, estimated damage amounted to 10,000 Belarusian rubles ($3000). On March 15, 2022, he was sentenced to 2.5 years in prison. Human rights activists in Belarus have recognized him as a political prisoner.
On 11 March 2022, Mark Izraylevich Bernstein, a Belarusian blogger and contributor to the Russian Wikipedia based in Minsk, was detained by GUBOPiK personnel after online accusations of violating the Russian 2022 war censorship laws for his editing of Wikipedia articles on the topic of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He was sentenced to 15 days' administrative arrest under Article 24.3 of the Administrative Code of Belarus. After that period, he was kept in detention; on 24 June 2022 he was sentenced to three years of restricted freedom and released from custody.
On 7 April 2022, Pavel Alexandrovich Pernikaŭ, a 30-year-old Belarusian human rights activist and Wikipedia editor, was sentenced to two years imprisonment for "discrediting the Republic of Belarus" by making two edits to Wikipedia about political repression in Belarus and posting one article to the website of a human rights organization about torture and extra-judicial killings in Belarusian detention centers. Days after his imprisonment, he was recognized as a political prisoner by Belarusian human rights organizations.
On Amendments to the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation and Articles 31 and 151 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Russian Federation is a group of federal laws promulgated by the Russian government during the Russian invasion of Ukraine. These laws establish administrative and criminal punishments for "discrediting" or dissemination of "unreliable information" about the Russian Armed Forces, other Russian state bodies and their operations, and the activity of volunteers aiding the Russian Armed Forces, and for calls to impose sanctions against Russia, Russian organizations and citizens. These laws are an extension of Russian fake news laws and are sometimes referred to as the fakes laws.
On March 30, 2023, 63-year-old pensioner Mikhail Simonov was convicted due to two comments under other people's posts in the Russian social network VKontakte. Mikhail Simonov Alexei was accused of discrediting the Russian army during Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He received seven years in prison.
In April 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, an anti-war drawing by Maria Moskalyova, a sixth-grader in the Russian town of Yefremov, led to the political persecution of the girl and her single father Aleksey Moskalyov. The father was charged with discrediting the Russian military, and the girl was separated from her father and sent to a local orphanage. On 28 March 2023, a Russian court sentenced Aleksey to two years in prison. This is the first time in the Russian Federation that a court, after imprisoning a parent for political reasons, left the child without a guardian.
Olga Evgenievna Karach is a Belarusian journalist, public figure, and politician. She is a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. She is part owner of Vitebsk Courier Publishing House CJSC. She founded the newspaper The Vitebsk Courier, registered in Russia. From March 2008 to March 2012, she was chair of the Vitebsk regional organization of the United Civil Party (UCP). She actively opposes Belarusian authorities, for which she is persecuted.
Igor Lazarevich Baryshnikov is a Russian engineer, a social activist from the Kaliningrad Oblast, who in 2023 was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison under "dissemination of knowingly false information about the actions of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation", despite a serious illness.
Yana Vitalievna Pinchuk is a Belarusian political activist. She is recognized as a political prisoner in Belarus by Memorial.
