{"id":133800,"date":"2025-04-11T11:43:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T08:43:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133800\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"reprisals-law-enforcers-intimidate-dissidents-by-visiting-relatives","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/133800\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: police visit exiled activists’ relatives"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

April 11, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The Observatory for Defenders condemned the harassment of exiled Belarusian human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka, describing it as a \u201cblatant attempt to silence his vocal support for imprisoned Belarusian human rights defenders.\u201d The initiative called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately drop all charges against him. It also denounced the ongoing pressure on Sudalenka\u2019s relatives, including his elderly mother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Activist D\u017amitry Karniajenka, associated with the Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija<\/em> media project, said on Facebook that law enforcers had visited his relatives as well. Earlier, the project was declared an “extremist group.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, journalist and blogger Valer Rusielik and human rights defender Maryna Kasinierava took to Facebook to report police visits. Rusielik’s social media had been labeled as “extremist” and Kasinierava had been suspected of links to the banned New Belarus<\/em> platform. Law enforcers asked their families if the dissidents planned to return to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information blacklisted the education website Va\u015bminoh<\/em> and its Facebook page as extremist content. It also banned the Facebook pages BGmedia<\/em> and Belarus News Headlines<\/em>, the TikTok account svaboda_news<\/em> and several other social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Palitviazynka human rights initiative suspended its activities after being added to the list of “extremist groups.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavie\u0142 Juchnievi\u010d, an activist of the European Belarus campaign, was released after serving a five-year sentence, Belsat <\/em>reported. The Mahilo\u016d Regional Court sentenced Juchnievi\u010d in May 2021 together with Pavie\u0142 Sieviaryniec, Ja\u016dhieni Afnahiel, Andrej Vojni\u010d, Maksim Viniarski, D\u017amitry Kaz\u0142o\u016d (blogger \u0160ery Kot) and Iryna \u0160\u010dasnaja, the editor of the Telegram channel Maja Kraina Bie\u0142aru\u015b.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April 11, human rights defenders identified at least 1,195 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Belarusian authorities have arrested about 65,000 people for political reasons in the four years since the August 2020 presidential election, Viasna reported eight months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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