Maksim Lepushenka

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Maksim Lepushenka
Максім Лепушэнка
Maksim Lepushenka. 2016.jpg
Born1974
Citizenship Belarus
Occupation Wikipedian

Maksim Lepushenka (born 1974, [1] Minsk [2] ) is a Belarusian Wikipedian. He is administrator and bureaucrat of the Belarusian Wikipedia in the official orthography. He was detained on May 15, 2025 and was recognized as a political prisoner by human rights organizations. [3]

Contents

Biography

Lepushenka is known on Wikipedia under the pseudonym "Maksim L". [4] He participated in offline meetings where he talked about the Belarusian Wikipedia. [5] He mainly wrote about the ancient history of Belarus  [ be ], also monitored order in the Belarusian Wikipedia and moderated user disputes. [6] He is author of articles on culture, literature, and biographies of contemporary Belarusian writers. [7]

Persecution

He was detained at midday on May 15, 2025. According to the media, Maksim's detention was part of the repressions targeting authors and editors of the Belarusian Wikipedia. [6] Maksim is charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them). During detention, he is held in Pre-trial Detention Center No. 1. [8] On June 17, 2025, Belarusian human rights organizations recognized him as a political prisoner. [3]

See also

References

  1. Karastsien, Viachaslau (2025-06-05). "Топор цензуры завис. Власти не решаются отрубать "Википедию", потому "лишь" преследу/a>. Pozirk (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  2. "Maxim Lepushenko". Dissidentby. Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. 1 2 "The statement on the recognition of four people as political prisoners". Viasna . 2025-06-18. Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. Bykovsky, Pavlyuk (2010-11-17). "Белорусские Википедии: От конфликтов к сотрудничеству". Мир энциклопедий (in Russian). Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. "В Минске прошла встреча с администратором белорусской Википедии". Мир энциклопедий (in Russian). 2014-10-29. Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  6. 1 2 "Затрымалі адміністратара беларускай Вікіпедыі Максіма Лепушэнку". Nasha Niva (in Belarusian). 2025-05-17. Archived from the original on 2025-06-02. Retrieved 2025-07-23.
  7. "Maksim Lepušenka". Belarusian PEN. 2025-06-22. Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. "Maksim Lepushenka". Viasna (in Belarusian). Retrieved 2025-07-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)