{"id":119527,"date":"2024-12-24T12:25:14","date_gmt":"2024-12-24T09:25:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/119527\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-dozens-of-arrests-linked-to-election-monitoring-initiative","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/119527\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: dozens of arrests linked to election monitoring initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Nurse given two years in prison over protests<\/strong>, four 2020 protesters on trial in Brest region<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two men accused of high treason, terrorism for allegedly plotting railway attacks <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viciebsk mall fire victim jailed for two days <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hundreds convicted for abusing state symbols since 2020<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

December 24, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Pro-government sources reported dozens of arrests linked to the opposition Honest People initiative that monitored violations during the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus from December 21 to 23 included trials for sharing opposition content: Iryna Taranka and Dzianis Sierbin were tried in the Hrodna region; Siarhiej Pra\u0161kievi\u010d and Juryj Anistratkin, of the Bara\u0144 City Council, in the Viciebsk region, the Viasna Human Rights Center and Telegram channels monitoring regime critics\u2019 trials reported. The sentences remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Information ministry reported extremist content designations for dozens of social media accounts, including pozirk_online<\/em> on TikTok, Belsat editor in chief Alina Ko\u016d\u0161yk’s Facebook page, Grodno.in<\/em> media project and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iryna Palanina was tried in Pastavy, Viciebsk region, for allegedly receiving foreign aid, the Vitebsk, Ya Gulayu <\/em>Telegram channel said. She has been under police supervision since November 2022, when she was released from prison after serving a two-year prison term for an online comment about a local police chief and storing a small-caliber rifle ammunition at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businessman Pavie\u0142 Klimionak, one of the victims of the recent Viciebsk mall fire, spent two days in jail for allegedly disobeying officials, Viasna said. Authorities did not disclose any further details of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavie\u0142 Vabi\u0161cevi\u010d and Andrej Zinienka went on a trial in Minsk behind closed doors on charges of high treason, terrorism and damaging transport infrastructure, Viasna said. State-run propaganda claimed earlier that both were arrested over an attempt to install an explosive device on the railroad in the Minsk region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nurse Viktoryja Vieras was sentenced to two years in prison on protest-related charges, calling for sanctions and inciting hatred, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exiled art manager Alaksandar \u010cacho\u016dski was given seven years in prison and fined 32,000 rubels ($9,300) after a re-trial without him being present, Viasna reported. \u010cacho\u016dski, a defendant in a criminal case involving the Rudabielskaja Pakazucha show, was accused of insulting officials, desecrating state symbols, heading an extremist group and facilitating extremism for alleged association with initiatives declared extremist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial of economist Pavie\u0142 Danejka, of the BEROC think tank, opened at the Minsk City Court yesterday without the defendant being present, Viasna said. Danejka is accused of extremism, conspiracy and unauthorized business activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miko\u0142a Chi\u0142o, a Baptist preacher and a former staff member with the European Union\u2019s delegation to Belarus, went on trial in Minsk on charges of calling for sanctions and inciting hatred, charges routinely used in Belarus to persecute regime critics, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viasna also reported the trials of Maryna Vasile\u016dskaja, U\u0142adzisla\u016d \u010cy\u017e, Andrej Filuta and Dzianis Dziemasiuk in Biaroza, Brest region, for participating in 2020 postelection protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksiej Ma\u0142adyka is on trial in Lepiel, Viciebsk region, for allegedly abusing state symbols. Since 2020, at least 211 people have been convicted on similar charges, Viasna noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of December 24, human rights defenders identified at least 1,294 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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