{"id":57899,"date":"2023-12-28T12:15:39","date_gmt":"2023-12-28T09:15:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=57899"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-100","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/57899\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>December 28, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27 with at least nine people punished for sharing opposition content online, one man sentenced to prison for a donation and another, for comments critical of the head of state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Aleh Stachajevi\u010d, a former trade union activist based in Mika\u0161evi\u010dy, Brest region, remains in custody following his arrest in mid-November and a 15-day jail term, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. He has lived in Lithuania since 2020 but regularly visited Belarus for sports competitions. His family members say police suspect him of involvement \u201cin extremist activities.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested security guard Pavie\u0142 Ma\u0142yna\u016d for allegedly storing protest symbols at home, writing critical comments and participating in a protest rally, a pro-government Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The law enforcers also arrested a mother and a grandmother of a four-year-old child. In the police video, both women admitted to participating in protests with the eight-month-old baby back in 2020, Viasna reported. Human rights defenders think one of them may have been jailed for 15 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities released Andrej Utkin after he had served a two-year prison term for sending pictures of Russian military equipment movements to an opposition Telegram channel, the Homiel branch of Viasna said. The interior ministry also blacklisted him as a person &#8220;involved in extremist activities.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 6, a judge in Viciebsk fined Russian national Nina Zhurova 740 rubels (about $230) for following opposition content on Instagram, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 8, a man in Navahrudak, Hrodna region, was given seven days in jail for posting a political video on VKontakte, the <em>Pravo Imeyut<\/em> Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Singer Siarhiej \u010carniak was jailed for 15 days in Lida, Hrodna region, after a brutal arrest at his workplace, presumably for sharing opposition content, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Teacher Natalla Sidlarevi\u010d in Pastavy, Viciebsk region, was fined 555 rubels (about $175) on similar charges. Police also confiscated her smartphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On November 24, a judge in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, jailed Andrej Baravicki for 15 days for sharing opposition content on the Telegram messaging app three years ago, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u015aviat\u0142ana Sojta, Maryna Mastovi\u010d, Ludmi\u0142a Smalak and Kyri\u0142 Stanku\u0107 were tried in the Hrodna region for sharing opposition content, several Telegram channels said. The verdicts are unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 6, a judge in Hrodna sentenced Ja\u016dhien Filipovi\u010d from Minsk to two and a half years in prison for donating \u20ac29 to the exiled ByPol opposition group via PayPal, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Student U\u0142adzimir Zapolski was given one year in prison on December 22 for comments that allegedly insulted Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and public officials. Earlier, he had served two years in prison on charges widely seen as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of December 28, human rights defenders identified at least 1,473 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>December 28, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27 with at least nine people punished for sharing opposition content online, one man sentenced to prison for a donation and another, for comments critical of the head of state. Arrested and released Aleh Stachajevi\u010d, a former trade union activist based [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-57899","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=\"December 28, Pozirk. 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