{"id":1232,"date":"2023-08-26T11:37:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-26T08:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&p=1232"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-4","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/1232\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 26, BPN<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 25 with eight more Belarusians added to the political prisoners’ list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 9, police arrested and jailed Michai\u0142 \u0141apuno\u016d, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Human rights defenders say that he is the father of Mikita Za\u0142ataro\u016d, a legal minor arrested in 2020 and sentenced to four and a half years in prison on charges widely seen as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

D\u017amitryj Kavale\u016dski was arrested at the border upon his return from Poland, Na\u0161<\/em>a Niva<\/em> reported. In a police video, he admitted to insulting police officers online. He may face up to 12 years in prison if convicted on charges of inciting hatred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

A judge in Po\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, sentenced a former head of the Irkutsk-based Belarusian Culture Society, Aleh Rudako\u016d, and his wife Volha to 30 days in jail over online comments, BPN<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u015ania\u017eana Kalin\u010danka, an employee at the Naftan oil refinery, was given 15 days in jail on August 10, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said. Authorities accused her of following and sharing opposition content on Facebook. On the same day, a judge in Viciebsk jailed Furkat Ryzaje\u016d for 13 days and confiscated his smartphone on similar charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Former university professor Hanna Skryhan from Mahilo\u016d was given two years in prison on charges of inciting hatred, MAYDAY.TEAM reported. Her trial was closed to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On August 24, the Mahilo\u016d Regional Court rejected professor Juryj Bubno\u016d’s appeal against a two-year prison sentence, MAYDAY.TEAM. He was convicted for allegedly insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jahor \u017duka\u016d’s trial ended in Brest but authorities have not disclosed the sentence, the Brest branch of Viasna said. The prosecutor requested a three-month jail term for \u017duka\u016d who allegedly tore down the state flag from a store on July 3.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Businesswoman and a mother of two Viktoryja Ha\u016drylina went on trial in Homiel, Viasna reported. Charges against her range from illegal handling of personal data to financing extremism. Human rights defenders consider her a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities transferred jailed Andrej Famin to a prison in Mahilo\u016d pending his appeal hearing by the Supreme Court in September, Viasna said. He was given seven years in prison for publishing the Vestniki <\/em>samizdat periodical that authorities labeled extremist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New political prisoners<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Human rights groups added eight more Belarusians to the political prisoners’ list. Authorities persecuted them on charges of inciting hatred and insulting officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of August 26, human rights defenders identified at least 1,489 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

August 26, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 25 with eight more Belarusians added to the political prisoners’ list. On August 9, police arrested and jailed Michai\u0142 \u0141apuno\u016d, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Human rights defenders say that he is the father of Mikita Za\u0142ataro\u016d, a legal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-1232","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUpdate on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 26, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 25 with eight more Belarusians added\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/1232\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta 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