Mother of jailed politician Seviaryniec released pending trial

January 12, Pozirk. Police have released Taćciana Seviaryniec, mother of prominent jailed opposition politician Pavieł Seviaryniec, pending trial, her daughter Hanna said on Facebook.

The woman was briefly hospitalized with high blood pressure following her arrest on January 9 in Viciebsk.

Police arrested Taćciana Seviaryniec for old Facebook posts that were later declared by authorities extremist, she said in a video released by a Telegram channel associated with the police.

Her son, a Belarusian Christian Democracy leader, was arrested in June 2020 after appearing at an election campaign gathering in downtown Minsk in the run-up to the presidential election.

In May 2021, he was given seven years in prison on charges of preparing mass riots.

About a year later, the interior ministry blacklisted him as a person “involved in extremist activities” and transferred him from a penal colony to prison for three years.

Pavieł Seviaryniec turned 47 on December 30.