{"id":135692,"date":"2025-04-25T11:42:27","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T08:42:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/135692\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-jailed-activist-kalesnikava-held-incommunicado-turns-43","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/135692\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: jailed activist Kale\u015bnikava turns 43"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Briefly: Five Belarusian volunteer fighters given lengthy prison terms in absentia<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student accused of extremism for links to defense monitoring chat<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KGB brands youth opposition project as an extremist group<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police raids in Dziar\u017eynsk target exiled Belarusians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UN experts alarmed over <\/strong>forced psychiatric treatment of dissidents<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

April 25, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Maryja Kale\u015bnikava, a prominent opposition activist serving an 11-year prison term in a politically-motivated case, turned 43, Radyjo Svaboda<\/em> reported. It was her fifth birthday behind bars. She has been held incommunicado for more than two years, except for meeting with her father last November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New politically-motivated reprisals documented in Belarus on April 24 included five sentences passed against Belarusians who signed up to the Ukrainian military. They were given prison terms of 12 to 20 years without being present at the trial, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Hrodna student faces a criminal trial for communicating with the now defunct Bie\u0142aruski Hajun <\/em>monitoring project that tracked Russian equipment movements in Belarus. He is accused of facilitating extremism, the Pravo Imeyut Telegram channel reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Extremist” register update<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB) branded the Heta Moladz \/This is Youth<\/em> project as an extremist group, listing exiled opposition activist Marharyta Vorychava as a member. The extremist group designation also covers her e-mail, Linktree, personal and the project\u2019s Instagram pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information ministry announced extremist content designations for several social media accounts, including the Instagram page by Arciom Bruchan, deputy head of the Warsaw-based National Anti-Crisis Management run by exiled politician Pavie\u0142 \u0141atu\u0161ka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police raided several homes in Dziar\u017eynsk, Minsk region, including the houses of at least four exiled Belarusians, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported, noting that officers conducting the searches made only one copy of the protocol, leaving victims with no proof of the procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concerns in UN<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A group of independent UN experts released a statement raising serious concerns over the alleged coercive psychiatric treatment of Belarusian regime critics. At least 33 individuals, including five women, have been subjected to such practices since 2020 for expressing dissent with the authorities, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of April 25, human rights defenders identified at least 1,194 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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