{"id":114807,"date":"2024-11-21T11:27:18","date_gmt":"2024-11-21T08:27:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/114807\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-minsk-arrests-two-belarusians-who-fought-russia-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/114807\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: Minsk arrests two Belarusians who fought Russia in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 21, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Maksim Ralko and Vasil Vieramiej\u010dyk, former Belarusian volunteers of the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski Regiment that fights alongside Ukrainian forces, are held in detention in Belarus, ONT <\/em>reported yesterday. Vieramiej\u010dyk was extradited from Vietnam, while the circumstances of Ralko’s arrest remain unclear. Belarusian authorities consider the regiment a terrorist organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus on November 20 include the trial of Pavie\u0142 \u0160oracha\u016d in Minsk. He is accused of inciting hatred in connection with government-critical comments in a Telegram chat, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jailed blogger Pavie\u0142 Spiryn is on trial in Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region, on charges of disobeying prison administration’s orders, Viasna said. Earlier, he had been given four and a half years in prison for inciting hatred in connection with his online activities. Rights groups declared him a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities continued branding more social media pages as extremist content. Additions include Deutsches Freiwilligen Korps<\/em> on Telegram, eyge.go<\/em> on Instagram, Alex Pazniak’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram; Usio pra Hrodna<\/em>, reformbynews<\/em> and Myazha_info<\/em> on TikTok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pul Pervogo<\/em>, a Telegram channel affiliated with Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s press office, announced a pardon for eight women and 24 men sentenced on extremism-related charges used in Belarus to persecute regime critics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ONT<\/em> TV channel broadcast a video featuring seven people who are either former political prisoners or their family members. Some were forced to say that they were declared political prisoners without being aware of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights defenders designated 13 people as political prisoners yesterday, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of November 21, human rights defenders identified at least 1,275 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities filed 7,400 politically-motivated criminal cases in the four years since the August 2020 presidential election, Viasna reported in mid-October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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