Greek Catholic priest jailed in Połack crackdown

May 26, BPN. A court has sentenced a Greek Catholic priest to 15 days in jail for sharing articles from the Charter’97 website on social media, a source has told BPN. The Belarusian government declared the opposition website an extremist group.

Police in Navapołack, Viciebsk region, arrested Alaksandr Šaŭcoŭ yesterday. They also detained 76-year-old Halina Zacharkina, associate professor at Połack State University’s architecture and design department. She was fined 2,960 rubels ($1,200) for unauthorized protesting and extremist propaganda.

Reports suggest that reprisals in the Połack area intensified this spring and involved citizens linked to Połack’s history and culture museum, Navapołack Central City Hospital and academics. Over dozen university staff were arrested earlier this week.