DEATH PENALTY On 18 April, Siarhei Ivanou was executed despite the pending review of his case at the UN Human Rights Committee. This was the first execution since November 2014.1 Around 5 November, Siarhei Khmialeuski, Ivan Kulesh and Hyanadz Yakavitski were executed. Death sentences in Belarus are typically carried out in secrecy and without notifying the family. The Supreme Court rejected the appeal of Siarhei Vostrykau on 4 October.2 Siarhei Vostrykau was awaiting the outcome of his plea for clemency from the President at the end the year; clemency had been granted only once in over 400 pleas since 1994. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION The Law on Mass Media continued to severely restrict the right to freedom of expression and effectively subjected all media companies to government control. Local journalists working for foreign media were still required to obtain official accreditation, which was routinely delayed or refused arbitrarily. In January, political blogger Eduard Palchys, known for his critical posts of the Belarusian and Russian authorities and who was residing in Ukraine, was arrested during a visit to Bryansk, Russia. He was remanded in custody by the Russian authorities until his extradition to Belarus on 7 June where he was placed in detention. On 28 October, he was found guilty of “inciting racial, national or religious hatred” and of the “distribution of pornography”. He was given a non-custodial sentence on account of having been on remand since January, and was released in court. The hearings of his case were closed, but the courtroom was opened to the public when the sentence was announced. SURVEILLANCE The legal framework governing secret surveillance allowed the authorities to undertake wide-ranging surveillance with little or no justification. The System of OperativeInvestigative Measures (SORM), a system of Amnesty International Report 2016/17 lawful interception of all electronic communications, allowed the authorities direct access to telephone and internet communications and associated data. The possible surveillance restricted human rights defenders, other civil society and political activists as well as journalists in exercising their human rights, including the rights to freedom of association, of peaceful assembly and of expression.3 FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION NGOs and political parties continued to face undue restrictions, including compulsory registration. Registration applications were frequently arbitrarily rejected for minute infractions or on other unexplained grounds. Under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code, the founding of, or participation in the activities of, an unregistered organization remained a crime punishable by up to two years’ imprisonment. The restrictions imposed on former prisoners of conscience Mikalai Statkevich, Yury Rubtsou and four other activists, as a condition for their early release in 2015, remained in place. FREEDOM OF ASSEMBLY The Law on Mass Events, which prohibits any assembly or public protest unless authorized by the authorities, remained in place. Civil society activist Pavel Vinahradau was placed under “preventive supervision” from 7 June to 13 September after he participated in four “unauthorized" peaceful street protests.4 LEGAL, CONSTITUTIONAL OR INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENTS In October, the tax authorities reported that they had sent notices to over 72,900 individuals who, under the 2015 presidential decree “On preventing social dependency”, were required to pay a special tax for being out of work for over 183 days in a given tax year. Failure to comply incurred fines or “administrative arrest” and compulsory community service which could amount to a form of forced labour. 83