{"id":104330,"date":"2024-09-10T19:08:40","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T16:08:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"opposition-politician-dismisses-belarus-appeal-hearing-as-circus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition politician dismisses Belarus appeal hearing as circus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"744\" height=\"496\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/viachorka_744x496.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/viachorka_744x496.jpg 744w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/viachorka_744x496-300x200.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 744px) 100vw, 744px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(A file picture)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>September 10, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> A panel has upheld a 20-year sentence against Franak Via\u010dorka, a chief aide to opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, the Prosecutor General&#8217;s Office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The office branded Via\u010dorka as the leader of the \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja Team extremist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Via\u010dorka, who lives in exile, dismissed the hearing as a circus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;However, now we have the names, documents and evidence against everyone involved. We will document these crimes for history and a future independent trial. We will also attach it to a special jurisdiction case and send it to UN experts,&#8221; he told <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Via\u010dorka noted that a government-appointed defense attorney in Belarus did not communicate with him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;She may be scared or may have other tasks,&#8221; Via\u010dorka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On June 20, the Minsk City Court sentenced Via\u010dorka to 20 years in prison without the defendant being present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 36-year-old politician was accused of inciting hatred, organizing mass riots and protests, high treason, conspiracy to overthrow the government, calling for sanctions, forming an extremist group, defaming the head of state and discrediting Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also read: <a href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/103715\/\">Exiled politician says he appealed to document lawlessness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 10, Pozirk. A panel has upheld a 20-year sentence against Franak Via\u010dorka, a chief aide to opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, the Prosecutor General&#8217;s Office said. The office branded Via\u010dorka as the leader of the \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja Team extremist group. Via\u010dorka, who lives in exile, dismissed the hearing as a circus. &#8220;However, now we have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":52884,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-104330","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>Opposition politician dismisses Belarus appeal hearing as circus | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 10, Pozirk. A panel has upheld a 20-year sentence against Franak Via\u010dorka, a chief aide to opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, the\" \/>\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\/104330\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opposition politician dismisses Belarus appeal hearing as circus | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 10, Pozirk. A panel has upheld a 20-year sentence against Franak Via\u010dorka, a chief aide to opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/viachorka_744x496.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"744\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"496\" \/>\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\/104330\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/\"},\"headline\":\"Opposition politician dismisses Belarus appeal hearing as circus\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-10T16:08:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/\"},\"wordCount\":199,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/viachorka_744x496.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/\",\"name\":\"Opposition politician dismisses Belarus appeal hearing as circus | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/104330\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/viachorka_744x496.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-09-10T16:08:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 10, Pozirk. 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