Rev. VITAL BYSTROU, Greek Catholic Church (Ivacevičy)
Rev. Vital Bystrou
A priest of the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church, he served at the parish of Our Lady of Žyrovičy in Ivacevičy.
At the very end of October or in early November 2025, Bystrou was detained in connection with the “Belaruski Hajun” case, taken into custody, and held in a pre-trial detention centre until his trial.
In mid-April 2026, he was convicted under Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (“facilitating extremist activity”) and sentenced to restricted freedom without referral to an open-type correctional facility — the so-called “home confinement” sentence. He was released in the courtroom.
Due to continued pressure on the parish in Ivacevičy, it was unable to complete re-registration in 2025 and filed an application for liquidation of the organisation.
