{"id":46700,"date":"2023-05-03T12:03:16","date_gmt":"2023-05-03T09:03:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/articles\/update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/46700\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>May 3, <span>BPN<\/span>. <\/b>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 2. People faced persecution over online comments, sharing opposition content and accusations linked to 2020 protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrested and released\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested businessman Jahor Da\u0161evi\u010d, 28, in Pinsk, Brest region, for antiwar social media comments critical of the Belarusian authorities, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t At least six men were arrested in the Homiel region, among them DJ Pavie\u0142 Danko\u016d and photographer Pavie\u0142 Bu\u0142ana\u016d. Authorities accuse them of writing online comments with appeals to join protests, likely dating back to 2020, donating money to the BySol solidarity fund, and sharing opposition content.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released former Belarusian language teacher Ema S\u0107epulonak after she had served two years in prison for an online comment, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Mika\u0142aj Vitko\u016dski from Naro\u016dla, Homiel region, has served 10 days in jail for sharing opposition content and allegedly disobeying police officers, the Homiel branch of Viasna reported. In 2020, he had been persecuted for alleged politics-related minor offenses.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in the Dziar\u017eynsk district, Minsk region, sentenced Maksim Pa\u0142ujan\u010dyk from Fanipal to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement for participating in a protest rally in August 2020, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Lawyer Anastasija \u0141azarenka went on trial in Minsk on charges of inciting hatred, illegal handling of personal data and participating in protests. She cannot consult her defense attorney during the proceedings because he will testify as a witness.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Artist Hienad\u017a Drazdo\u016d, 64, is on trial at the same court, its electronic schedule says. Authorities accuse him of promoting extremism and a public disorder offense.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Volha H\u0142adkaja went on trial at a district court in Minsk on charges of participating in protests. She used to work as a manager at the <span>Belarus 2<\/span> state-run TV channel but resigned in September 2020.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed Siarhiej Fran\u010duk will go on a new trial in Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region, on May 13 for allegedly insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka. On April 28, he was given a three-year prison term over 2020 protests and online comments. Fran\u010duk is a cousin of Vadzim Kaban\u010duk, a deputy commander of the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski Regiment formed of Belarusian volunteers in Ukraine in March 2022.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Family members of jailed former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka still have no information on his whereabouts or health condition following his hospitalization with signs of beating on April 25, the politician\u2019s team said. The banker-turned-politician is currently serving a 14-year prison term.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities transferred jailed Viasna leaders Ale\u015b Bialacki, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d, to the Mahilo\u016d region\u2019s penal colonies after rejecting their appeals, Viasna said. Human rights defenders had been convicted of financing protests in Belarus and smuggling cash for their work. Bialacki, Viasna\u2019s founder and a Nobel Peace Prize winner, will be serving his 10-year prison term in Horki.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Moscow&#8217;s Presnensky District Court will hear Sofia Sapega\u2019s case, <span>TASS<\/span> reported. On April 14, Belarusian authorities granted Sapega&#8217;s petition to be extradited to serve her six-year sentence in Russia. Sapega, a Russian national and an alleged administrator of a Belarusian opposition channel on Telegram, was convicted of inciting hatred and illegal handling of personal data.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed Barys Ku\u010dynski, 73, from S\u0142onim, Hrodna region, was placed in Penal Colony No 2 in Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region. In January, authorities toughened his sentence, replacing three years of restricted freedom in home confinement with two years in prison. Ku\u010dynski is persecuted for a social media post about a police officer.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed Artur \u010carnia\u016dski may also face a tougher punishment after another trial on charges of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, Haradzienskaja Pravaabarona said. In 2022, he was given two years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility for insulting a public official.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Extremist content updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities blacklisted Viasna&#8217;s images on the Flickr photo hosting service, the viasnabrest Instagram account as well as a number of Telegram channels and chats as extremist content.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;As of May 3, human rights defenders identified at least 1,496 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 2. People faced persecution over online comments, sharing opposition content and accusations linked to 2020 protests. Arrested and released Police arrested businessman Jahor Da\u0161evi\u010d, 28, in Pinsk, Brest region, for antiwar social media comments critical of the Belarusian authorities, Na\u0161a Niva [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-46700","articles","type-articles","status-publish","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>Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 2. 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