{"id":203146,"date":"2026-09-10T16:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T16:27:13","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T13:27:13","slug":"swiss-prosecutors-reject-hersches-complaint-over-torture-in-belarus-prison","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/","title":{"rendered":"Swiss prosecutors reject Hersche\u2019s complaint over torture in Belarus prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>September 10, Pozirk. <\/strong>The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland rejected a complaint regarding crimes against humanity filed by Natalla Hersche, a Swiss national of Belarusian descent, who had spent 17 months in Belarusian prison in a politically-motivated case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prosecutors described her detention conditions as \u201cextremely harsh\u201d and \u201cpartially degrading,\u201d but considered them common shortcomings of prisons under an authoritarian regime rather than torture, <em>gothamcity.ch<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More than a dozen Belarusian officials listed in the complaint have never been to Switzerland, and therefore, its jurisdiction does not apply to them, the ruling reportedly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The news comes just after the arrival in Minsk of Stefan Estermann, new Swiss ambassador to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In December 2020, Belarusian authorities sentenced Hersche to two and a half years in prison on charges of resisting a police officer. She refused to ask for a pardon and went on hunger strike at least three times while in prison. Authorities released her after 17 months in custody due to the efforts of the Swiss diplomacy, several days after the arrival in Minsk of the Swiss ambassador Christine Honegger Zolotukhin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During her imprisonment, Hersche had filed seven complaints regarding violations of her rights, including a lack of medical care, restrictions on correspondence, sleep deprivation, poor lighting in the prison cell and the radio being played at full volume. The woman went on hunger strike four times.<\/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\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">New Swiss ambassador arrives in Minsk<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">September 10, Pozirk. New Swiss Ambassador to Belarus Stefan Estermann arrived in the country with his wife, he said in a video posted on Facebook. Estermann noted that he and his wife were warmly welcomed and quickly felt at home, &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/203138\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read <\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 10, Pozirk. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland rejected a complaint regarding crimes against humanity filed by Natalla Hersche, a Swiss national of Belarusian descent, who had spent 17 months in Belarusian prison in a politically-motivated case. Prosecutors described her detention conditions as \u201cextremely harsh\u201d and \u201cpartially degrading,\u201d but considered them common [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":119428,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-203146","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Swiss prosecutors reject Hersche\u2019s complaint over torture in Belarus prison | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 10, Pozirk. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland rejected a complaint regarding crimes against humanity filed by Natalla Hersche, a\" \/>\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\/203146\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Swiss prosecutors reject Hersche\u2019s complaint over torture in Belarus prison | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 10, Pozirk. The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland rejected a complaint regarding crimes against humanity filed by Natalla Hersche, a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-09-10T13:27:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/shweitsaria_pixabay.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\/203146\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/\"},\"headline\":\"Swiss prosecutors reject Hersche\u2019s complaint over torture in Belarus prison\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-10T13:27:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-10T13:27:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/\"},\"wordCount\":237,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/shweitsaria_pixabay.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/\",\"name\":\"Swiss prosecutors reject Hersche\u2019s complaint over torture in Belarus prison | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/203146\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/shweitsaria_pixabay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-09-10T13:27:11+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-10T13:27:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 10, Pozirk. 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