{"id":102708,"date":"2024-08-30T11:13:43","date_gmt":"2024-08-30T08:13:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102708\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-jailed-dissidents-face-ill-treatment-in-prisons","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102708\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: jailed dissidents face ill-treatment in prisons"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 30, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>New instances of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 29, including reports of ill-treatment of political prisoners behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The administration of Penal Colony No 4 in Homiel is responsible for \u201cunbearable conditions\u201d for political prisoners and using inmates’ personal information to manipulate and pressure them, Novy \u010cas<\/em> reported. Jailed regime critic Maryja Kale\u015bnikava, who is serving an 11-year prison term there, is denied proper medical care, while wardens tear up her letters in front of her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A similar situation was reported from Penal Colony No 3 in Viciebsk where political prisoners are denied medical care, beaten and deprived of phone calls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna Human Rights Center submitted a complaint to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) about what it called arbitrary and illegal detention of Iryna Takar\u010duk. The woman was given three years in prison on extremism-related charges after being arrested during a raid targeting recipients of grocery aid from INeedHelpBY initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases of politically-motivated persecution involved an arrest of a man for alleged participation in 2020 postelection protests and sharing information with the opposition chatbot about military equipment movements, reported by a pro-government source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities branded the Instagram page by Catholic believer and journalist Maksim Hacak as extremist content, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija said. Nine months ago, his VKontakte page was also blacklisted in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights defenders designated six people, accused or convicted on protest-related charges, as political prisoners, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of August 30, human rights defenders identified at least 1,371 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities have arrested about 65,000 people for political reasons in the four years since the August 2020 presidential election, Viasna reported in early August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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