{"id":130423,"date":"2025-03-18T10:56:52","date_gmt":"2025-03-18T07:56:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/130423\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-estonian-national-belarusian-basketball-coach-on-trial-in-minsk","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/130423\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: Estonian national, Belarusian basketball coach on trial in Minsk"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Briefly: Japanese national sentenced to prison in Belarus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Woman faces protest-related charges in Minsk<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pardoned opposition activist flees Belarus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

March 18, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>New cases of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus from March 15 to 17 included several high-profile criminal trials in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estonian national Allan Royo and prominent Belarusian basketball coach Alaksandar Syryca went on trial at the Minsk City Court, Pozirk r<\/em>eported. Both face charges of inciting hatred, association with an extremist group, insulting and slandering Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka. Rights groups consider their persecution to be politically motivated<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same court sentenced a Japanese man to seven years in prison and a fine after finding him guilty of spying, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office said. The state-run <\/em>media announced the arrest of Masatoshi Nakanishi last September, accusing him of taking pictures of roads, bridges and strategic facilities near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karyna Fasievi\u010d’s trial opened in Minsk yesterday, Na\u0161a Niva <\/em>reported. The 29-year-old faces violent disorder charges that authorities often use to persecute regime critics and participants in 2020 postelection protests. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Opposition activist Antanina Kanava\u0142ava, a former associate of \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja during her 2020 presidential campaign, left Belarus, her mother Hanna Kanava\u0142ava said on Facebook. In mid-December 2024, the woman was released from prison under a pardon program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In January, Homiel region’s prosecutors filed 50 criminal cases against 34 suspects accused of extremism-related crimes, the state-run newsgomel.by <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna Human Rights Center documented at least 156 people, including 46 women, sentenced on politically-motivated criminal charges last month. Belarusian judges have convicted at least 133 people of terrorism-related charges since 2020, it noted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of March 18, human rights defenders identified at least 1,213 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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