1. Extras

There are 12 persons involved in the case, one more - Artur Popok - is wanted.

Among these twelve are three pensioners: Iryna Melkher, Galina Derbysh, Lyubov Razanovich.

Two more are of pre-retirement age: Vladimer Gundar is 60 years old, Mykola Autukhovich is 59.

Four have serious health problems.

Derbysh is disabled after the accident, oncology, heart problems.

Gundar has no leg.

Sergey Razanovich has diabetes.

After the last hunger strike, Autukhovich's kidneys began to fail.

One of the accused is an Orthodox priest.

Father Siarhei Razanovich served in the village of Styapanky, Zhabinka District, Brest Oblast.

He ended up on the bench, apparently, because their family let Autukhovich live with them.

There is also one former security guard in the case.

This is Pavel Razanovich, the son of a priest.

He previously worked in the Department of Enforcement of the Moscow District of Brest.

And also - one Afghan, this is actually Autukhovich.

Some people write about Gundar that he also fought in Afghanistan, but this is not true - he lost his leg due to an illness.

Three had previous convictions.

Pavlo Sava has two convictions, it is known that he used drugs before.

Autukhovich has been imprisoned twice before for political reasons, in total he is the record holder for years in prison.

If we add the third imprisonment, he spent more than 9 years behind bars.

Gundar was already sentenced to three years after the 2020 protests.

All in all, two families are among the defendants — Siarhei and Lyubov Razanovichi and their son Paval;

mother and son of Irina and Anton Melkhery.

2. Accusation

Initially, it was about setting fire to an investigator's car in Hrodna and two cars and an unfinished policeman's house in Vaukavysk.

Already at the trial it became known that the accusation grew into something more.

The extras are accused of wanting to change the regime in Belarus and kill Lukashenka, and all this - allegedly on the instructions of the Ukrainian special services.

According to the version of the Belarusian security forces, Autukhovich and his associates wanted to take a grenade launcher and combat missiles from the USA across the Ukrainian border to shoot down Lukashenka's plane.

3. Guilt

Only two defendants fully admitted their guilt.

One is Paval Sava, he is not only the accused, but also the main witness, who testified against Autukhovich and others.

The second is Anton Melkher, but the boy is accused only of participating in the "Brest Karagoda".

How he was connected to the "Autukhovich case" is not very clear.

4. Judge

Maksim Filatov from Lida is considering the case.

He has led political processes before.

Someone did not like him so much that during his training in the sports hall, someone literally "put a bunch of g..." in his backpack in the locker room.

Based on this fact, they even conducted an inspection and searched for the culprits.

Filatov is known for the fact that he sentenced the activist Vitold Ashurko to 5 years, who later died in the colony.

Filatov was among the first to be included in the sanctions list of the European Union after 2020.

And in Belarus, he got a promotion and from the beginning of 2022 he works in the Horaden Regional Court.

5. Time

The youngest person involved in the case is 28 years old, this is Anton Melkher.

Paval Razanovich is several months older than him, he is 29. The oldest person involved in the case is Iryna Melkher, she is 67 years old.

The first defendants were detained in December 2020, it will soon be two years that they have been in prison.

The trial has been going on for the fifth month.

Anton Melkher, who is being tried only for participating in the protests, faces a minimum term of 4 years in prison.

The maximum is 25 years for the six defendants accused of terrorism (Autukhovich, Sava, Derbysh, Pavlo and Lyubov Razanovich, Irina Melkher).

6. Torture

The accused repeatedly claimed torture and threats.

One of the goals, according to them, is for them to give the necessary testimony during the investigation.

Paval Razanovich said that he heard the screams of his mother, who was being strangled in the office next door, and he was also threatened with the arrest of his wife.

Gundar claimed that he was beaten after his arrest.

Derbysh spoke about the pressure on her during the investigation, so that she would testify.

Prisoners were forced to undress in front of the court so that their clothes could be X-rayed.

Derbysh complained about this in particular.

After one of these procedures, Gundar was brought to the court in only underpants and handcuffed to the cage on a stretcher, the prisoner had to stand on one leg.

During one of the sessions, Olga Mayorova's embroidered T-shirt and red sweater disappeared from the cell.

Derbysh and Autukhovich were kept in solitary confinement almost all the time after their arrest.

The defendants were also pressured through restriction of correspondence.

Four defendants - Vladimir Gundar, Galina Derbysh, Olga Mayorova and Iryna Melkher - handed over an appeal for release, in which they declared a threat to their lives and health, and also named the security forces responsible for it.

Paval Sava mysteriously said that "he may not live to the end of the trial."

7. Cells

One more form of torture can be identified as metal cells, in which the defendants were kept during the trial.

Internet users immediately compared them to cages for wild animals and medieval torture devices.

For a long time, there was a partition in the main large cell, where most of the defendants were kept, through which people could not see each other and therefore could not understand who, for example, was testifying against them.

Autukhovich and Lyubov Razanovich were put in two small cells separately.

They complained that the cells were cramped, they couldn't sit or stand comfortably, and their backs hurt.

8. Fasting

Autukhovich set a record for "dry fasting" in Belarus.

He stayed without food and water for 21 days, which severely undermined his health.

In this way, he protested against the obstacles in correspondence - he was not given letters even from his mother.

The truth is, the prisoner recovered quickly enough for such a hunger strike, now he "looks good" and eats all the food.

Many times during his imprisonment, Gundar also went on hunger strike, so he fought against the pressure and bullying in relation to him.

9. Open closed process

From the middle of September, the process that started in May was made completely closed.

But even before that it was almost impossible to get on it.

The trial takes place in a room inside the city prison.

Only two relatives of the accused were allowed at the hearing - relatives went there one after the other.

Friends, acquaintances, and colleagues of the participants were not allowed to enter from the beginning.

Instead, employees of the state media were allowed to pass.

It was on pro-Lukashenka channels that photos and videos of the defendants appeared, as well as basic information from the trial.

It is noteworthy that the propaganda media actively covered the process with their interpretation.

10. Judgment

The verdict is expected on October 17, but even that is not known for sure.

Due to the secrecy of the process, there is not even information about what the prosecutor invited for the accused.

Initially, the case gained publicity due to the fact that some participants were threatened with execution.

Such a sanction is provided for by Part 3 of Article 289 "Act of Terrorism".

However, human rights defenders claimed that the death penalty cannot be threatened even with such an accusation, since none of the victims died.

Besides, women are not shot in Belarus.

The maximum punishment they can be given is 25 years in prison.

The main thing about the "Autukhovich case"

On the evening of December 8, 2020, the state media reported on the detention of the "Autukhovich group".

According to them, behind the burning of a policeman's house in Vaukavysk and the blowing up of a police officer's car in Hrodna is a group led by Vaukavysk businessman and former political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich.

First, the Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case according to Part 2 of Art.

218 of the Criminal Code "Intentional damage to property committed in a way that is dangerous to the general public".

Then the Prosecutor General's Office requalified him for Part 1 of Art.

289 — "Act of terrorism", which provides imprisonment for up to 15 years.

At the beginning of February, an updated list of organizations and individuals involved in terrorist activities appeared on the website of the KGB of Belarus.

According to the KGB, apart from Autukhovich himself, his "group" included 12 people.

Among them

, his wife

and adult son

, who allegedly helped Autukhovich hide from law enforcement officers.

and the former activist of the Ukrainian Communist Party, resident of the Krup district

, knew Autukhovich, were in contact with him and, according to the investigation, may be involved in the crime that he allegedly prepared.