{"id":138882,"date":"2025-05-20T11:18:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-20T08:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-6000-regime-critics-convicted-since-2020","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>May 20, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five years, including 77 people found guilty of high treason, said Belarus\u2019 chief investigator D\u017amitryj Hara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Five leaders of the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski Regiment, a Ukrainian military unit branded a \u201cterrorist organization\u201d by Minsk, were sentenced to lengthy prison terms. Six Belarusian volunteer fighters are in custody in Belarus and 125 are wanted, Hara added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus from May 17 to 19 included an arrest of Maksim Lepu\u0161enka, a veteran Belarusian Wikipedia editor,<em> Na\u0161a Niva <\/em>said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> also reported two sentences in criminal cases: Alena Pankratava, 73, was most likely given a restricted freedom term on violent disorder charges that authorities routinely use to persecute participants in 2020 postelection protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Minsk sentenced Siamion Z\u0142obi\u010d, CEO of the Belarusian Civitta branch, to a prison term for allegedly discrediting the state. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The information ministry announced extremist content designations for <em>skarynapress<\/em>, <em>orellesya<\/em>, <em>dmitriysergievich<\/em>, <em>miliuk26<\/em>, <em>mara_freedom_belarus<\/em>, <em>krupitski_sergei<\/em> and <em>siarhejpantus<\/em> on Instagram, the X account by the National Anti-Crisis Management and <em>svetlogorsk_freedom<\/em> on TikTok. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rights groups declared seven people as political prisoners yesterday, including Mikita \u0141osik, the younger brother of imprisoned blogger Ihar \u0141osik, the Viasna Human Rights Center said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of May 20, human rights defenders identified at least 1,177 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> \u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">\u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u043a\u0430<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Jailed blogger&#039;s brother among seven new political prisoners<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">May 19, Pozirk. Belarusian human rights defenders have labeled seven people as political prisoners, bringing the total to 1,177, the Viasna center reported. One of them is A\u0142a Pu\u010dynskaja, accused of involvement in a foreign military conflict. In March 2024, &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/138815\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five years, including 77 people found guilty of high treason, said Belarus\u2019 chief investigator D\u017amitryj Hara. Five leaders of the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski Regiment, a Ukrainian military unit branded a \u201cterrorist [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-138882","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020 | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020 | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\"},\"headline\":\"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-20T08:18:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\"},\"wordCount\":251,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\",\"name\":\"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020 | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-20T08:18:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"width\":1128,\"height\":752},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020 | Pozirk","description":"May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020 | Pozirk","og_description":"May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1128,"height":752,"url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/"},"headline":"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020","datePublished":"2025-05-20T08:18:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/"},"wordCount":251,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/","name":"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020 | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-20T08:18:51+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00","description":"May 20, Pozirk. A total of 6,000 people have been accused and convicted for allegedly attempting \u201cviolent seizure of power\u201d in Belarus over the past five","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg","width":1128,"height":752},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/138882\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Reprisals: 6,000 regime critics convicted since 2020"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/138882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=138882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}