{"id":46821,"date":"2023-05-13T12:02:25","date_gmt":"2023-05-13T09:02:25","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\/46821\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>May 13, <span>BPN<\/span>. <\/b>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 12 as authorities seek to punish Belarusians for&nbsp;supporting the opposition and sharing content online.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested six people in Hrodna, including Andrej Ta\u016drel, Valeryj Parulis and a former puppet theater actor Alaksandr Jend\u017eej\u016dski, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Social media channels linked to police say the arrested shared opposition content and posted pictures from protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On April 12, police arrested U\u0142adzimir Ryzhunski, the head of the Minsk Regional Center of Hygiene and Epidemiology, and searched his office, the Belye Chalaty (White Coats) initiative reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On May 11, a truck driver tried to attack a group of servicemen &#8220;using an explosive device made of pyrotechnic material,&#8221; the defense ministry reported. The incident reportedly took place at a section of the M-5 highway linking Minsk and Homiel. The driver was arrested and faces criminal charges of malicious hooliganism. Authorities described him as an opposition supporter.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Supreme Court upheld lengthy prison sentences passed in absentia to five alleged administrators of the Black Book of Belarus, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported. Authorities accused Janina Sazanovi\u010d, Danii\u0142 Bahdanovi\u010d, D\u017amitryj Navo\u0161a, Volha Vysockaja and Valeryja Zaniamonskaja, all currently based abroad, of running the&nbsp;online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters in 2020.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Hrodna Regional Court reduced the prison sentence of D\u017amitryj Miad\u017aviedzki, convicted on politically-motivated charges, from three to two and a half years, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The prosecutor requested a four-year prison sentence for Jan Papkovi\u010d, currently on trial at the Minsk City Court, <span>Mediazona<\/span> reported. Authorities accuse him of participating in protests and participation in armed conflict in a foreign country.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn Homiel, authorities jailed activist Illa Mirona\u016d for 10 days but have&nbsp;not disclosed the charges against him, his mother Valancina Mironava wrote on Facebook.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn Viciebsk, Professor Ta\u0107ciana Maklacova &nbsp;was fined 2,220 rubels (over $780) for allegedly sharing opposition content and violating the order of holding mass events, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A district court in Vierchniad\u017avinsk, Viciebsk region, jailed local activist Valancina Bo\u0142bat, 69, for 30 days, presumably on similar charges. She was briefly&nbsp;hospitalized after her arrest on April 30.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Extremist list updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities added 30 names to the list of &#8220;persons involved in extremist activities,&#8221; taking their total to 2,800, the interior ministry said. Additions include 12 defendants in the high-profile &#8220;A\u016dtuchovi\u010d case.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Extremist content updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A district court in Minsk blacklisted a number of opposition Telegram channels and social media accounts as extremist content, among them pages liked to&nbsp;Belarusians&nbsp;in Poland, a childfree community and the <span>T<\/span><span>utej\u0161y \u0161lachci\u010d<\/span> Telegram channel promoting Belarusian history and culture.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Committee for State Security (KGB) added nine more people to its terrorist register, blacklisting a former presidential hopeful Valeryj Capka\u0142a, political activists and so-called rail partisans, <span>BPN<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The whereabouts of another former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka remain unclear, MAYDAY.TEAM said. He may be held at a prison hospital in Minsk.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Belarusian opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja said she has not received any news from her husband, jailed blogger Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski, since March 10, <span>BPN<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed Alaksiej Ha\u0142o\u016dkin&nbsp;may face new criminal charges, MAYDAY.TEAM said. He has a disability and is currently serving a prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Investigators completed has sent the case file against journalist Pavie\u0142 Padabied to prosecutors for forwarding it to court, the BAJ said. Authorities accuse him of participating in an extremist group.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of May 13, human rights defenders identified at least 1,483 political prisoners.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 13, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 12 as authorities seek to punish Belarusians for&nbsp;supporting the opposition and sharing content online. Arrests Police arrested six people in Hrodna, including Andrej Ta\u016drel, Valeryj Parulis and a former puppet theater actor Alaksandr Jend\u017eej\u016dski, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Social [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-46821","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 13, BPN. 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