human rights defender

Palina Pitkevich

HRD's year of birth

1994

HRD's Gender

Woman

Type of HRD

  • Journalist/Blogger

HRD's thematic area of engagement

  • Civil and political rights

HRD's geographical origin

Urban

Current Status

In prison (sentenced)

HRD's bio and work

Palina Pitkevich is a journalist. She was brought to trial on March 7, 2025. She was charged with participation in an "extremist formation" (under Part 3 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code). Judge Sviatlana Charapanava sentenced Palina to three years in a general-security penal colony.

In June 2024, when the Belarusian KGB declared the Media IQ project an extremist organization, Pitkevich was named among its participants.

On May 30, 2025, Palina was added to the list of Belarusian citizens, foreign citizens, and stateless persons involved in extremist activities.

Detained since

Jun 6, 2024

Charge(s)

  • Extremism

Sentence

3 years in prison

Geolocation of detention

Country or area of detention

Region of detention

  • Europe: Eastern Europe

Location of detention - City/Town

Homieĺ

Location of detention - Facility

Penal colony No. 4. 246035, Homieĺ, vulica Antoshkina 4

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