{"id":122863,"date":"2025-01-22T20:07:36","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T17:07:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/122863\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"over-3200-sentenced-under-anti-protest-laws-since-2020-viasna","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/122863\/","title":{"rendered":"Over 3,200 sentenced under anti-protest laws since 2020 \u2013 Viasna"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n File photo (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 22, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian authorities have sentenced at least 3,277 people under anti-protest laws since 2020, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The number may be higher since the regime “conceals the true scale of repression,” Viasna lawyer \u015aviat\u0142ana Ha\u0142a\u016dniova has said. She added that this is almost half of all those sentenced on politically-motivated grounds since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The anti-protest laws include charges of violent disorder, rioting and violating the procedure for holding public events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lawyer stressed that the level of control at all stages of the ongoing election campaign is higher than during the referendum of 2022 and the elections of 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Despite small waves of pardons for some political prisoners, the overall level of repression is high,” Ha\u0142a\u016dniova said. “New repressive legislation and practices are constantly emerging. In 2024, we saw a huge number of videos recorded under duress, learned about a cage in a women’s prison, observed increased persecution of queer persons and the LGBTQ+ community, a surge in repressive practices against people who support political prisoners, as well as new practices of pressure in the workplace.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For over four years, the most common way of persecuting protesters has been the violent disorder charge \u2013 judges have sentenced at least 3,016 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, the authorities sentenced 1,721 people on politically-motivated grounds, 480 women among them. Since the beginning of the crackdown, at least 6,550 people have been persecuted, including 1,380 women, Viasna said in a report on January 15.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to human rights activists, there were 1,265 political prisoners in late December. The activists have granted the status to 3,697 people since the summer of 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"