{"id":120848,"date":"2025-01-08T11:59:13","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T08:59:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120848\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-social-services-to-monitor-regime-critics-families","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/120848\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: social services to monitor regime critics\u2019 families"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

Bie\u0142aru<\/strong>\u015b<\/strong>kalij sacking opposition supporters<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two women found guilty of extremism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baranavi\u010dy man facing criminal charges for tearing down state flag  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pop singer, 17 others branded \u201cextremists\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senior goes on another trial for insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

January 8, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Belarusian human rights defenders recorded 8,895 instances of arrests, interrogations and searches last year, with at least 759 reprisal incidents in December alone, the Viasna Human Rights Center said in its recent report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politically-motivated persecution continued in Belarus in early January with reports of mass dismissals at the Belarusian potash giant Bie\u0142aru\u015bkalij. The reason may be their support of 2020 postelection protests, according to zerkalo.io<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

In 2024, authorities passed about 2,000 sentences in connection with opposition content with 1,444 rulings blacklisting websites and social media pages, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children of people convicted for sharing opposition content may be reported to social services as being in a socially dangerous situation, pravo.by<\/em> said, citing the government’s directive that entered into force on January 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u015aviat\u0142ana \u0160a\u016dluha, Iryna Narejka and \u015aviat\u0142ana Jeramionak were tried in the Viciebsk region for sharing opposition content, the Vitebsk, Ya Gulaju<\/em> Telegram channel reported. The sentences remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrej Karot\u010dyk-\u0141aski was given a second 15-day jail term on similar charges in Lepiel in late December, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar Vajtovi\u010d was tried five days ago in Lida, Hrodna region, for receiving foreign aid from an exiled opposition initiative, the Pravo Imeyut <\/em>Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Authorities filed criminal charges against a man in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, for tearing down a state flag from a building on New Year’s Eve, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A judge in Brest sentenced Ta\u0107ciana Vasiljeva to two years of restricted freedom in home confinement for an interview with the Warsaw-based Belsat<\/em> TV, Viasna said. Her daughter Julija \u0141aptanovi\u010d is serving a prison term in a politically-motivated case. Rights groups consider both political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former university employee Ta\u0107ciana Mi\u0161yna was tried in Viciebsk last month on extremism-related charges, Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported. Authorities did not disclose the verdict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 63-year-old Hienad\u017a \u017dukiel, who had earlier served one year in prison for insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, went on trial on the same charges again in early January, Pravo Imeyut<\/em> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extremist list update<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The interior ministry reported 18 new additions to the list of \u201cpersons involved in extremist activities,\u201d with the total of entries at 4,826. One of them is singer Ivan Vabi\u0161\u010devi\u010d aka Dyadya Vanya, serving two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement for participation in a 2020 postelection protest rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Jailed regime critic Mika\u0142aj A\u016dtuchovi\u010d, serving a 25-year prison term, is held in a punishment cell, Radyjo Svaboda<\/em> reported. Earlier, the man complained about his health and said he feared for his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities released former prosecutor Ja\u016dhien Babak after he had served a four-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated, according to his Instagram page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Teacher Darja Chmialnickaja was pardoned in mid-December, Belarusian PEN said. She was serving five and a half years in prison on protest-related charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 8, human rights defenders identified at least 1,258 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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