{"id":81993,"date":"2024-04-25T11:37:41","date_gmt":"2024-04-25T08:37:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/81993\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-authorities-set-to-silence-critics-voices-online","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/81993\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: authorities set to silence critics’ voices online"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 25, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on April 24 as authorities fined former political prisoner Ta\u0107ciana Py\u0107ko, a mother of four, 1,000 rubels ($308) for sharing a logo of an opposition media outlet on Odnoklassniki, an opposition Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six months ago, the Supreme Court suspended Py\u0107ko\u2019s three-year prison sentence and reduced her husband Via\u010dasla\u016d \u0141azara\u016d\u2019s five-and-a-half-year prison term by six months. The couple had been convicted for cooperating with Belsat <\/em>TV, a Warsaw-based television station deemed extremist in Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reprisals linked to politically-sensitive social media posts also included an arrest of a businessman from the \u017dabinka district, Brest region, by about a dozen armed riot policemen, according to a pro-government source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mahilo\u016d police arrested Kaciaryna Kastusiova, daughter of the Belarusian Popular Front leader Ryhor Kastusio\u016d serving a 10-year prison term in a politically-motivated case. A police-linked Telegram channel posted a video of her confession to collaborating with the outlawed Viasna Human Rights Center in 2020 and signing up for the opposition Pieramoha Plan in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 5, a judge in Minsk sentenced Mikita Dabravolski to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement for participating in a postelection protest rally in 2020, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mika\u0142aj Mickievi\u010d, accused of desecrating state symbols, went on trial in Smarho\u0144, Hrodna region, the Sudy, Zaderzhaniya. Grodno i Oblast<\/em> Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April 25, human rights defenders identified at least 1,398 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\n\n\n

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