{"id":185868,"date":"2026-05-01T11:57:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:57:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/185868\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T11:57:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T08:57:19","slug":"reprisals-more-than-dozen-women-arrested-across-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/185868\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: more than dozen women arrested across Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

May 1, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> At least 12 women were arrested on April 23 in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Law enforcers also searched their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April 29, at least two of them were still held in custody. One of the arrested women was fined for following content blacklisted in Belarus as \u201cextremist.\u201d Similar arrests of women were reported in the Minsk and Hrodna regions as well as in Brest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus on April 29 and 30 include a three-year prison term for Volha Bu\u0142anava, convicted in the Bie\u0142aruski Hajun case, Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported. The now-defunct opposition project monitored the movement of Russian equipment in Belarus between 2022 and 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dzianis Ho\u0142ubie\u016d, instructor at the Viciebsk medical school, was found guilty on charges of insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and facilitating extremist activities, Viasna\u2019s Viciebsk branch said. The sentence may involve restricted freedom or a prison term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian prosecutors have forwarded to court a criminal case against exiled political commentator D\u017amitryj Ba\u0142kuniec, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office reported. \u00a0He is accused of conspiracy to seize power, extremism, calls for sanctions, defaming and insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka and discrediting Belarus, charges typical for persecuting political opponents in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interior ministry designated the Reform.news<\/em>\u00a0media outlet as an \u201cextremist\u201d group, listing Fiodar Pa\u016dlu\u010denka, Alaksandar Atro\u0161\u010danka\u016d and Alaksiej \u017duka\u016d as members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yesterday, the interior ministry also added 35 people to its list of extremists, mostly outspoken critics of the government sentenced on politically-motivated charges, taking the total to 6,578.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information ministry announced \u201cextremist\u201d content designations for the YouTube channel by Russian journalist Yury Dud,\u00a0klasby84<\/em> on Threads, ecohome.ngo<\/em>, a book about local elections in Belarus and 16 other social media pages, including Instagram and Facebook accounts of the Belarusian community in Tampa, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian human rights defenders have declared 10 more people as political prisoners, Viasna said. They were all convicted over links to blacklisted opposition initiatives or organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of May 1, human rights defenders identified at least 838 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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