Rights group reports new arrests, pressure on political prisoner

June 26, BPN. The Viasna Human Rights Center reports new politically motivated arrests, as well as pressure on a political prisoner.

According to the human rights group, gas station operator Alaksandr Šorac (48) was arrested in Minsk for allegedly insulting a police officer while intoxicated.

The group also learned about the arrest of Siarhiej Badunoŭ in Navapołack (Viciebsk region). The reasons of the arrest are yet to be clarified.

Uładzimir Sierhijenka (44) was arrested in Vaŭkavysk (Hrodna region). Pro-police Telegram accounts reported that the man had been in Poland, from where he’d insulted the police and Alaksandr Łukašenka on the Internet. Sierhijenka was detained after his return to Belarus.

From pro-government Telegram channels, the group also learned about the arrest of Dźmitryj Sidorkin (26), who allegedly participated in protests and wanted to join Belarusian volunteers of the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment in Ukraine.

Political prisoner Mikita Litvinienka was restricted from receiving correspondence, the group said, quoting the young man’s mother. He celebrated his 23rd birthday on June 3, but the Škłoŭ prison administration in the Mahiloŭ region did not pass him any letters of congratulation.

Litvinienka was arrested in Minsk on September 13, 2020, by the interior ministry’s organized crime unit. He was detained for 15 days for participating in a rally of protest. Instead of being released, he was then re-arrested as a suspect in a criminal case.

On July 19, 2021, a court sentenced Litvinienka to four years in prison. Judge Viktoryja Šabunia found him guilty under criminal articles against rioting and disturbing public order.