{"id":142967,"date":"2025-06-17T11:57:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-17T08:57:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/142967\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"reprisals-rights-activists-identify-22-suspects-in-bielaruski-hajun-case","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/142967\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: rights activists identify 22 suspects in Bie\u0142aruski Hajun case"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Highlights from June 14\u201316 reports:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Multiple trials are ongoing or have taken place, involving charges such as extremism funding, violent disorder, high treason and calling for sanctions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials continue to blacklist various social media channels and individuals, while a Russian court has issued a fine for distributing a book by a Belarusian political prisoner.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB) announces new additions to a \u201cterrorist list,\u201d with charges ranging from inciting hatred to calling for sanctions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

June 17, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Human rights defenders are aware of at least 22 suspects arrested for corresponding with Bie\u0142aruski Hajun military activity monitoring group. The total number of suspects may be significantly higher. First trials will start soon. Earlier reports said the arrests were made on extremism charges. Most detainees are men, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hrodna Regional Court tried Siarhiej Sa\u0142a\u017eenca\u016d, an IT professional who had returned from Poland. It is unclear when he was arrested and prosecuted. He moved to Warsaw in 2021 and, possibly, was arrested upon his return to Belarus in late 2024. He was charged with extremism funding, Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

English teacher Alena Brazinskaja was sentenced on a violent disorder charge for allegedly participating in protest rallies. The date of her trial and the exact sentence are unknown. On June 13, 2025, Brazinskaja was added to the \u201cextremist list,\u201d Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Minsk City Court tried Ja\u016dhieni Kudzin, a father of many children accused of calling for sanctions. The sentence is unknown. Kudzin has remained free, but the KGB has added him to the “terrorist list,” Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial of Andrej Zanie\u016dski opened at the Hrodna Regional Court on June 16 without the defendant being present. He is charged with high treason. Details of the indictment are unknown, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arciom Vasilje\u016d, who gave an interview to propagandist Ksienija Lebiedzieva in 2022, was sentenced on charges of violent disorder and draft evasion. In that report, he described the horrors of waiting for refugee status in the Netherlands and his bad life there, as people are supposedly encouraged to do drugs and have homosexual relations, unlike in Belarus. Vasilje\u016d was most likely arrested between November 2024 and April 2025. The date of the trial and the sentence are unknown. On June 13, he was added to the “terrorist list,” Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials declared several social media extremist. According to the information ministry, they blacklisted: the channels and chats Filin. Operativnaya Analitika i Publitsistika, a project by the Salidarna\u015b\u0107 website, Ukrainskyi Bilorusofil; the Instagram page alex_sazanovich_canada; the YouTube channel BelarusForum; the Facebook page Belorusskiy Demokraticheskiy Forum BelarusForum; the TikTok pages Zahlanie Sonca and Vanya Omenkov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB) added Alaksandar \u015aciepanovi\u010d, Hanna Papaj, Ivan Kavalenka, Alaksandar Mazuryn and Ja\u016dhieni Kudzin to the \u201cterrorist list.\u201d Their charges included inciting hatred and calling for sanctions. The list contains 1,415 entries, 609 Belarusian nationals among them, the KGB\u2019s Telegram channel reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A court in Russia fined Yelena Orlova, director of St. Petersburg’s bookstore Podpisnyye Izdaniya, about 20,000 Russian rubles (some $250) for allegedly supporting an \u201cundesirable organization.\u201d The reason was distributing the book Going to Magadan<\/em> by Ihar Alinievi\u010d, a Belarusian political prisoner sentenced to 20 years, Mediazona<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of June 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,183 political prisoners, but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court\u2019s electronic schedule of trials and the database of court rulings have been inaccessible since early April. Human rights groups relied on these databases to track politically-motivated persecution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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