{"id":102897,"date":"2024-08-31T22:17:46","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T19:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"acting-chairman-of-belarusian-popular-front-sentenced-to-4-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting chairman of Belarusian Popular Front sentenced to 4 years in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1200\" height=\"839\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org-338x236.jpg 338w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org-701x490.jpg 701w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org-768x537.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(narodny.org)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>August 31, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> A judge in Belarus has sentenced opposition politician Vadzim Saran\u010duko\u016d to four years in prison and a fine of 24,000 rubels ($7,300), the Belarusian Popular Front acting chairman said on Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Saran\u010duko\u016d expressed &#8220;gratitude&#8221; to defense attorney Raman Hu\u0161\u010dyn, who told the trial that he was guilty. &#8220;I have nothing to apologize for or be ashamed of. I believe I&#8217;m doing everything right,&#8221; the exiled politician said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On March 29, the Investigative Committee announced extremism-related charges against Saran\u010duko\u016d and Ale\u015b Kirkievi\u010d, former deputy head of the Ma\u0142ady Front (Young Front) movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A civic and political activist, Saran\u010duko\u016d used to head the BPF Hrodna branch. Since April 2022, he has been the party&#8217;s acting chairman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Kirkievi\u010d was locked up for his alleged role in protests after the 2010 presidential election but Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka later pardoned him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities have targeted 118 people with special-procedure cases. The procedure allows the government to prosecute its exiled opponents for grave crimes, including terrorism, mercenarism and high treason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In July, after Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka had announced the release of his critically ill opponents on humanitarian grounds, human rights defenders reported the release of BPF leader Ryhor Kastusio\u016d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/kirkevich_fb_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/kirkevich_fb_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/kirkevich_fb_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/kirkevich_fb_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/kirkevich_fb_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/kirkevich_fb_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Exiled Belarusian activist given seven years in prison in Belarus<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">August 6, Pozirk. Alaksandar Kirkievi\u010d, a Belarusian freelance journalist, local history enthusiast and former activist of the opposition Malady Front (Youth Front) currently outlawed in Belarus, has been sentenced to seven years in prison in a trial held without him &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/99256\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 31, Pozirk. A judge in Belarus has sentenced opposition politician Vadzim Saran\u010duko\u016d to four years in prison and a fine of 24,000 rubels ($7,300), the Belarusian Popular Front acting chairman said on Instagram. Saran\u010duko\u016d expressed &#8220;gratitude&#8221; to defense attorney Raman Hu\u0161\u010dyn, who told the trial that he was guilty. &#8220;I have nothing to apologize [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":102866,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-102897","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Acting chairman of Belarusian Popular Front sentenced to 4 years in prison | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 31, Pozirk. A judge in Belarus has sentenced opposition politician Vadzim Saran\u010duko\u016d to four years in prison and a fine of 24,000 rubels ($7,300),\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Acting chairman of Belarusian Popular Front sentenced to 4 years in prison | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 31, Pozirk. A judge in Belarus has sentenced opposition politician Vadzim Saran\u010duko\u016d to four years in prison and a fine of 24,000 rubels ($7,300),\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"839\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/\"},\"headline\":\"Acting chairman of Belarusian Popular Front sentenced to 4 years in prison\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-31T19:17:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/\"},\"wordCount\":207,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/\",\"name\":\"Acting chairman of Belarusian Popular Front sentenced to 4 years in prison | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/102897\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/saranchukou_narodny_org.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-08-31T19:17:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"August 31, Pozirk. 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