{"id":210756,"date":"2026-11-06T12:54:52","date_gmt":"2026-11-06T09:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210756\/"},"modified":"2026-11-06T12:54:54","modified_gmt":"2026-11-06T09:54:54","slug":"authorities-have-kept-27-percent-of-politically-motivated-convictions-secret-since-may-2025-viasna-says","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210756\/","title":{"rendered":"Authorities have kept 27 percent of politically motivated convictions secret since May 2025, Viasna says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Hasan Almasi \/ unsplash.com)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

November 6, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Authorities have concealed data about some 670 people convicted for political motives over the last year and a half, of 27 percent of the total number, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opportunities for monitoring politically motivated persecution in Belarus are increasingly limited, with authorities no longer updating the list of individuals involved in \u201cextremist activities\u201d starting mid-September and concealing data about the recognition of groups of people as \u201cextremist,\u201d Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 10,201 people have faced politically motivated criminal charges, with 8,807 individuals convicted, including in absentia, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many as 4,860 people have been granted political prisoner status in the six years since the 2020 presidential election in Belarus, the Viasna Human Rights Center says in its October report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights defenders had identified 886 political prisoners as of October 31, including 111 women. Forty-three people were recognized as political prisoners in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As many of 3,991 people, including 792 women, had the status of former political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 172 political prisoners are in a particularly vulnerable situation because of the state of their health, age or confinement conditions, the report said. Among them are Ta\u0107ciana Ko\u0142as and U\u0142adzimir Cielapun, both diagnosed with cancer; Vac\u0142a\u016d Are\u0161ka, who has gone blind in prison; U\u0142adzimir Hundar, who had had his leg amputated; and Maksim \u0160ukana\u016d, who suffers from epilepsy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transborder repression continues, with criminal cases against exiles, their inclusion in lists of \u201cextremists,\u201d surveillance, pressure on relatives in Belarus and the confiscation of property, the report said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna Human Rights Center concluded that the human rights situation in Belarus remains \u201cextremely difficult,\u201d with systemic repression continuing unabated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In October, human rights defenders learned about the execution of Alaksandar Taratuta, a resident of S\u0142uck, Minsk region, in October 2024, after the Supreme Court had upheld the death sentence imposed on him for murdering his three-year-old son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus remains the only country in Europe that still uses the death penalty. About 400 people have been executed in Belarus since independence in 1991. Only a few cases of clemency are known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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