{"id":47305,"date":"2023-06-19T11:39:07","date_gmt":"2023-06-19T08:39:07","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\/47305\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>June 19, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 17 and 18 as authorities disbarred more lawyers and fired university staff on suspicions of dissent.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Ihar \u010carka\u0161yn and searched his home, presumably on June 7, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported. Two of his work colleagues were arrested as well. \u010carka\u0161yn\u2019s older brother Ale\u015b died in 2015 fighting Russia in Ukraine.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Via\u010das\u0142a\u016d Ho\u0142ub from Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region, was arrested on June 12 as he was returning to Belarus from Russia, <span>Bobrujsk Online<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Protestant priest Alaksandr Ja\u0161nika\u016d is under arrest for allegedly disobeying police orders, priest Ryhor D\u017amitruk said on Facebook.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Ramuald U\u0142an, an independent newspaper publisher from Smarho\u0144, Hrodna region, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Earlier, he had been imprisoned on charges widely seen as politically motivated and released under an amnesty program.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Hrodna region&#8217;s police also arrested Maksim Kisialo\u016dski, Andrej Klapacki, and Juryj Samasiuk for sharing opposition content. The name of the fourth arrested remains unknown.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A district judge in Lepel, Viciebsk region, jailed musician Vasil \u0160kinder for 15 days. Authorities have not disclosed the charges against him, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In early June, a woman in Or\u0161a, Viciebsk region, was given three days in jail for having a mug with the Pahonia coat of arms in her work office.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Ministry of Justice disbarred lawyers Alaksandr Biry\u0142a\u016d and Pavie\u0142 Mirona\u016d citing &#8220;insufficient qualification.&#8221; Biry\u0142a\u016d was a defense attorney for Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Poczobut), a jailed journalist and Polish minority activist.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Po\u0142ack State University, Viciebsk region, dismissed at least seven staff members, including lecturers Anastasija Mazho and \u015aviat\u0142ana Panima\u0161\u010danka, as well as secretaries Kaciaryna \u0160a\u016dluha and Ta\u0107ciana \u010carkasava, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Earlier, it also fired associate professors Viktar \u010cara\u016dko and Siarhiej H\u0142azyryn, who were jailed for sharing opposition content.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed anarchist activist Alaksandr Franckievi\u010d was left in a punishment cell for 15 more days, Viasna said. He is currently serving a lengthy prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities transferred Aleh \u0160vajko, an activist sentenced to two years in prison in connection with his role in post-election protests, to Penal Colony No 2 in Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of June 19, human rights defenders identified at least 1,497 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>June 19, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 17 and 18 as authorities disbarred more lawyers and fired university staff on suspicions of dissent. Arrests Police arrested Ihar \u010carka\u0161yn and searched his home, presumably on June 7, Na\u0161a Niva reported. Two of his work colleagues were arrested as well. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-47305","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=\"June 19, BPN. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 17 and 18 as authorities disbarred more lawyers and fired","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"June 19, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 17 and 18 as authorities disbarred more lawyers and fired","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/"},"headline":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution","datePublished":"2023-06-19T08:39:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/"},"wordCount":417,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47305\/","name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-06-19T08:39:07+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"June 19, BPN. 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