{"id":119136,"date":"2024-12-20T11:56:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T08:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/119136\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-one-more-journalist-in-prison-news-agency-branded-extremist-group","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/119136\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: one more journalist in prison, news agency branded extremist group"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Briefly:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities keep persecuting Belarusians\u2019 online activities<\/strong>, dozens IT workers behind bars<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ukrainian Nobel Prize winner\u2019s X page labelled extremist content<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former financial investigator accused of high treason, association with opposition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four women, 19 men designated political prisoners<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 20, <\/strong>Pozirk.<\/strong> <\/em>At least two incidents of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus on December 19 involved journalists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cameraman Ja\u016dhien Nika\u0142ajevi\u010d based in Pinsk, Brest region, was given 18 months in prison in early October after the judge found him guilty of violent disorder in connection with his work during 2020 postelection protests, media-polesye.com<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interior ministry designated the Pozirk<\/em> news agency as an extremist group, listing Ta\u0107ciana Karaviankova, human rights activist Raman Ki\u015blak, and political analysts Alaksandar K\u0142asko\u016dski, Piotra Rudko\u016dski and Alexander Friedman as members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online content<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kanstancin \u010carno\u016d was tried in \u010ca\u0161niki, Viciebsk region, for the fourth time this month for sharing opposition content, the Vitebsk, Yu Gulayu<\/em> Telegram channel said. The sentence remains unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Minsk judge branded Ukrainian human rights activist Oleksandra Matviichuk’s X page as extremist content. She divided the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago with her Belarusian colleague Ale\u015b Bialacki and Russia\u2019s Memorial rights group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other blacklisted content includes j_matuzova<\/em> and Lastanka <\/em>on X, NarDep<\/em>, Aleksandr<\/em>, Kastu\u015b<\/em>, Mikita<\/em> and potatoesSs <\/em>on TikTok, according to the information ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials and criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar \u017dyhuno\u016d and Ivan \u017da\u016dtabrucha\u016d were tried in Viciebsk for minor offenses; Mikita Bambienka, in Navahrudak, Hrodna region, for allegedly receiving foreign aid, Telegram channels monitoring politically-motivated cases reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar Kudrevi\u010d went on trial in Minsk on charges of high treason and association with an extremist group, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. In the past, the man presumably had worked as a financial investigator for the State Control Committee, which demanded that he cover alleged damages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least 79 IT professionals have been convicted of crimes over their political activity since 2020, Viasna reported, noting that 27 of them are currently held behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A house seized from former presidential hopeful Valer Capka\u0142a is up for auction again. The auction is scheduled for January 15 at e-auction.by<\/em>. The starting price is 1.68 million rubels (about $515,000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights groups designated 23 more people as political prisoners, including Barys Puchalski, Ivan Barodzi\u010d and Ukrainian Ivan Likholat, who were given lengthy prison sentences two days ago for allegedly cooperating with the Ukrainian secret service and plotting a terrorist attack on the railway in the Viciebsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of December 20, human rights defenders identified at least 1,299 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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