{"id":188063,"date":"2026-05-19T11:32:52","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:32:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/188063\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T11:32:54","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T08:32:54","slug":"political-trials-criminal-cases-and-incidents-of-torture-reported-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/188063\/","title":{"rendered":"Political trials, criminal cases and incidents of torture reported in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>May 19, <em>Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Sources in Belarus reported new trials, criminal cases and allegations of torture on May 16-18 as the government continues persecute its political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Below is <em>Pozirk\u2019s<\/em> recap of developments over these three days:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Natalla \u010cubo\u016dskaja, a make-up artist from Hrodna, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison on eight charges that authorities routinely use for politically motivated persecution, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Alaksiej Sasno\u016dski, a lecturer at Belarusian State Medical University, and Volha Kaz\u0142o\u016dskaja, a nurse in Baranavi\u010dy, were given \u201crestricted freedom\u201d sentences in home confinement after judges found them guilty of facilitating extremism, according to Viasna and <em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Michai\u0142 Kucko, an exiled former police officer who had recorded a video address in 2020 urging police to side with opposition supporters, was put on trial in Hrodna in his absence on high treason charges, Viasna reported. \u00a0<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Investigators brought formal charges of inciting hatred and insulting the head of state against famous pop-singer Siarhiej Micha\u0142ok, the Investigative Committee reported.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The interior ministry designated <em>Proinfo<\/em>, a media outlet reporting from Hancavi\u010dy, Brest region, as an \u201cextremist\u201d group.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Viasna documented instances of torture at Belarus\u2019 prisons, including incommunicado detentions, cold and overcrowded cells, frequent searches, denials of basic medical aid, threats to relatives, forced \u201cconfession\u201d videos and prisoners forced to take stress positions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ludmi\u0142a \u010cekina, the former director general of the tut.by media outlet serving a 12-year prison sentence, is said to have health issues. She spent at least five days in a punishment cell in March. She is banned from receiving cash transfers as \u201ca person implicated in terrorist activities\u201d and had her phone calls limited for alleged violations of prison rules, journalist Maryna Zo\u0142atava reported on Facebook.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Authorities are preparing to sell a Hrodna apartment seized from Je\u017ey Hryhien\u010da, an exiled activist sentenced to six years in prison in November 2024 without him being present at the trial, Haradzienskaja Pravaabarona reported.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The number of documented political prisoners decreased to 842 on May 18 after some inmates completed their sentences.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 19, Pozirk. Sources in Belarus reported new trials, criminal cases and allegations of torture on May 16-18 as the government continues persecute its political opponents. Below is Pozirk\u2019s recap of developments over these three days:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-188063","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>Political trials, criminal cases and incidents of torture reported in Belarus | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 19, Pozirk. Sources in Belarus reported new trials, criminal cases and allegations of torture on May 16-18 as the government continues persecute its\" \/>\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\/188063\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Political trials, criminal cases and incidents of torture reported in Belarus | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 19, Pozirk. 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