Belarus Jails Priest Three Years for Opposing War
A closed October trial branded Fr. Anatoly Parakhnevich an extremist; he will appeal and is counted among nearly 900 political prisoners.
A Belarusian court has sentenced Fr. Anatoly Parakhnevich, 66, pastor of Alkovichy in the Vileika district of northwestern Belarus, to three years in prison and a fine. The sentence was handed down in October at a closed-door trial and became known on Thursday, November 5. He was convicted of “extremism” and “insulting the authorities.” He rejects every charge and says he will appeal. Authorities have not released the detailed grounds of the conviction.
Fr. Parakhnevich has been held since his arrest in March, when masked men presumed to be Belarusian security agents detained him. He suffered a heart attack while in detention. Human rights monitors recognize him as a political prisoner. They say he publicly opposed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, condemned Belarus’s role in it, called for peace and repentance, and helped collect aid for Ukrainian refugees. In one homily he asked his parishioners whether their own conscience could ever forgive them.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya called the sentence heartbreaking and politically motivated. Monitors currently count 884 political prisoners held in Belarus.
Pressure on Clergy Since 2020
The case fits a pattern of pressure on clergy that intensified after the 2020 post-election protests. Dozens of Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant clerics have been jailed, silenced, or forced into exile, especially those who backed the protests or sheltered protesters in their churches. A new law requires all religious communities to re-register, bans civic symbols in services, and bars people labeled “extremists” from leading parishes.
The Church continues to accompany persecuted pastors and the faithful who suffer for conscience and for peace. Fr. Parakhnevich’s appeal will test whether Belarusian courts reverse a conviction that rights defenders describe as political.