Fr. Henryk Okołotowicz's sentencing on charges of 'high treason' has been described as the first such political imprisonment since the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union. Okołotowicz has maintained his innocence.
MINSK, Belarus (LifeSiteNews) -- A Catholic priest in Belarus was given an 11-year jail term Monday on charges of “high treason” in what has been described as the first such political imprisonment since the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union.
On December 30, Father Henryk Okołotowicz received a prison sentence of 11 years from the Minsk Regional Court in Belarus and is destined to be sent to a high-security prison camp, though precise details remain unknown. His trial began in late November, and according to local news, Okołotowicz’s case was conducted in secret behind closed doors.
When his sentence was handed down, sources attested that no representatives of his family or of the Catholic Church in Belarus were present in the courtroom.
Okołotowicz, who is apparently very ill with cancer, has maintained that he is innocent, having previously pleaded not guilty. In the few letters that have reached his parishioners, he has asked for Catholics to pray for him as he placed his hope in God’s providence, according to Polish media.
Local human rights group Viasna Human Right Center counts him among over 1,200 political prisoners in the country.
“For the first time since the fall of the Communist regime, a Catholic priest in Belarus was convicted on criminal charges that are levelled against political prisoners,” said Viasna spokesperson Pavel Sapelka. “The harsh sentence is intended to intimidate and silence hundreds of other priests ahead of January’s presidential election.”
The official reason for his arrest – having originally been detained in 2023 – and his recent sentencing has been given only as “high treason.”
After being detained by the Belarus KGB in November 2023, the accusations against the priest have still not been disclosed to the public. Unofficial rumors reported before the trial began suggested he was being accused of having caused financial damage to the state.
His sentence was delivered by Judge Uladzimir Areszko, a man described locally as being “known for his sentences against resistance (individuals).”
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Local news outlets report that human rights groups have also raised concerns about the priest’s imprisonment since his arrest in November 2023. He reportedly had a heart attack shortly before his arrest and also subsequently underwent surgery for stomach cancer.
Okołotowicz has a much-lauded history of ministering to Catholics and assisting in a revival of Catholic practice in Belarus – consequently he has also earned the ire of Communist authorities. Ordained in 1984, that same year he became the first Belarusian priest to offer Mass at the grave of the Polish officers massacred at Katyn in 1940 by Stalin’s secret police.
His priestly ministry has, according to Polish news, included being punished by Soviet authorities some 30 times even before the fall of the Soviet Union.
Originally of Polish extract, the 64-year-old Okołotowicz comes from a deeply religious family. His early attempts to enter seminary were prevented by Soviet authorities, but he was eventually trained in an underground seminary and then was secretly ordained in June 1984 by Bishop Vincentas Sladkevičius of Lithuania.
He had most recently been serving at the Church of St. Joseph in Volozhin.
Okołotowicz’s sentencing comes amid increasing restrictions on Christianity in Belarus, as President Alexander Lukashenko looks ahead to what could be his seventh consecutive term in office should he emerge victorious from this month’s elections. Lukashenko professes to be an "Orthodox atheist."
The anti-Catholic practices are also being enacted in conjunction with targeting of Polish individuals in Belarus. Indeed, some reports highlight that Okołotowicz’s treatment is due to his being perceived as being Polish and thus disloyal to the state of Belarus.
Statistics from 2020 suggest the Catholic population of Belarus is 10.6 percent of the national total. The majority of the populace are Orthodox.
But Christian persecution watchdog Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has highlighted increasing concerns for Catholics in the nation.
ACN wrote in 2023 that Belarus’ “authoritarian crackdown resulted in devastating consequences for civil society and human rights, including religious freedom,” while it also recorded that the government “runs regular surveillance of religious believers through the KGB secret police.”
In August 2021, a government-run paper ridiculed the Catholic Church by running a series of cartoons with prelates portrayed with Nazi swastikas rather than pectoral crosses.
“Most human rights, including religious freedom, are endangered due to the authoritarian nature of the government in Belarus,” ACN concluded.
