Catholic priest jailed for 15 days over social media posts

November 21, BPN. Authorities jailed Catholic priest Vital Čabatar for 15 days presumably for his social media posts, Katolic.life reported.

Police arrested Čabatar on November 17. He has served as a priest in Mahiloŭ for 15 years.

This month, authorities also jailed Ihar Kandraćjeŭ, a Greek Catholic priest from Brest, and Ihar Baranoŭski, editor of the Greek Catholic newspaper Carkva (The Church). The latter was accused of disseminating “extremist” content. Both of them have been already released.

Orthodox priest Uładzisłaŭ Bahamolnikaŭ remains in custody, serving his sixth consecutive jail term.

Police arrested him on August 31 after breaking into his Minsk apartment. The charges against him remain unclear. He has been held in a detention center on Akreścina Street in Minsk. Human rights defenders say the jail does not meet proper hygiene standards and is infested with lice. Prisoners do not have bedding and are not given parcels with food or clean clothes.