{"id":120704,"date":"2025-01-05T14:59:43","date_gmt":"2025-01-05T11:59:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120704\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"viasna-reports-surge-in-politically-motivated-minor-offense-convictions-in-2024","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120704\/","title":{"rendered":"Viasna: politically-motivated minor offense convictions spiked in 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Judges responsible for politically-motivated sentences\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (spring96.org)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

January 5, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian human rights defenders recorded 8,895 instances of arrests, interrogations and searches last year, making 2024 a more repressive year compared to 2023 and 2022, the Viasna Human Rights Center said in its recent report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year was marked by police raids targeting solidarity networks, mass arrests in small towns, layoffs from large state-run companies for political reasons, arrests of former political prisoners and people who returned to Belarus from abroad, Viasna noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, authorities held at least 5,890 politically-motivated trials on minor offense charges, 51 percent more than in 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reprisals affected Minsk and Minsk region the most with at least 2,772 victims. Brest and Hrodna regions followed with 1,925 and 1,363 victims, respectively. About a quarter of reprisal victims were women, rights defenders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities punished Belarusians most frequently for sharing opposition content and receiving foreign aid, according to the report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People arrested in Belarus face inhumane conditions in detention centers with overcrowded cells, lack of hygiene and warm clothing and without access to showers or clear water. Some spend several months in these conditions, Viasna noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation may be even more serious as persecuted people fear sharing information with rights defenders, it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mass-scale reprisals have been ongoing in Belarus since the 2020 political crisis. Authorities stepped up crackdown on regime critics in the run-up to the seventh presidential election scheduled for January 21-26. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"