{"id":146082,"date":"2025-07-09T20:30:46","date_gmt":"2025-07-09T17:30:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"belarusian-protesters-statute-of-limitations-offers-no-safety","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/","title":{"rendered":"Statute of limitations offers no safety to protesters, lawyer says"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>July 9, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Although the statute of limitations under Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code expires this summer, protesters will remain at risk of facing violent disorder charges, said Leanid Maroza\u016d, the chief legal officer at opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja&#8217;s camp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you were charged long ago but have managed to flee or hide, the five-year term will expire for you, but if officers put you on a wanted list, they can extend the term to 15 years, he said, according to Cichano\u016dskaja&#8217;s press office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maroza\u016d warned that authorities can persecute participants in the 2020 protests using more serious charges, such as mass riots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe regime wants to show people that time does not matter and any form of dissent will be punished even years later. Also, the recent pardons should not create an illusion of a softer \u0141uka\u0161enka policy. According to the Viasna Human Rights Center, new political prisoners outnumber those pardoned,\u201d he argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He stressed that the statute of limitations is not a safety guarantee. \u201cProtection from persecution requires caution and understanding of real risks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Earlier, Belarus\u2019 law enforcement agencies stepped up their effort to prosecute participants in the 2020 postelection protests. \u201cWe know that court cases have been mass-produced in recent weeks under Article 342 of the Criminal Code,\u201d Viasna reported, referring to the article carrying punishment for mass disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Rights activists report spike in prosecutions over 2020 protests<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">July 7, Pozirk. Belarus&#039; law enforcement agencies have stepped up their effort to prosecute participants in the 2020 postelection protests, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. \u201cHuman rights activists have received information that in recent months, charges have been brought &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/145607\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>July 9, Pozirk. Although the statute of limitations under Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code expires this summer, protesters will remain at risk of facing violent disorder charges, said Leanid Maroza\u016d, the chief legal officer at opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja&#8217;s camp. If you were charged long ago but have managed to flee or hide, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":138242,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-146082","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Statute of limitations offers no safety to protesters, lawyer says | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"July 9, Pozirk. Although the statute of limitations under Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code expires this summer, protesters will remain at risk\" \/>\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\/146082\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Statute of limitations offers no safety to protesters, lawyer says | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 9, Pozirk. Although the statute of limitations under Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code expires this summer, protesters will remain at risk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/morozov_sovetnik_st_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/\"},\"headline\":\"Statute of limitations offers no safety to protesters, lawyer says\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-09T17:30:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/\"},\"wordCount\":236,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/morozov_sovetnik_st_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/\",\"name\":\"Statute of limitations offers no safety to protesters, lawyer says | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/morozov_sovetnik_st_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-09T17:30:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"July 9, Pozirk. 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Although the statute of limitations under Article 342 of the Belarusian Criminal Code expires this summer, protesters will remain at risk","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146082\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Statute of limitations offers no safety to protesters, lawyer says | Pozirk","og_description":"July 9, Pozirk. 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