{"id":146257,"date":"2025-07-10T23:29:39","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T20:29:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"reprisals-local-businessman-taken-into-custody","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: Local businessman taken into custody"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>July 10, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Belarusian authorities have continued their crackdown on dissent and online expression, arresting a businessman for an online comment, pursuing a traveler over a caricature of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and proposing fines for promoting homosexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Viasna Brest reported that law enforcers arrested Andrej Aro\u0142, 52, for a like or comment he made online after Russia invaded Ukraine. The Mika\u0161evi\u010dy-based businessman is being held in a pre-trial detention center in Brest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>BySol reported that a fundraiser for Natalla Dulina, a former political prisoner, was completed in nine hours. Supporters donated a total of \u20ac5,800.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Pozirk <\/em>reported that the Belarusian government submitted a bill to the House of Representatives to introduce fines for promoting homosexuality, gender transition, voluntary childlessness or pedophilia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dmitrijs Mihailovs, a Latvian national who had been imprisoned in Belarus, reported being beaten at a detention center in Minsk, according to <em>LSM+<\/em>. In December 2022, Mihailovs was sentenced to four years on charges considered politically motivated. He lost 26 kg in detention. The man was pardoned by \u0141uka\u0161enka recently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Law enforcers visited the mother of renowned traveler Alaksandar Hoj\u0161yk in Salihorsk. According to Hoj\u0161yk\u2019s Facebook page, he is wanted over a caricature of \u0141uka\u0161enka on his social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prosecutors threatened criminal prosecution for disseminating a TikTok video on the shortage of milk, ice cream and sugar in the Dobry Bor village, Brest region. They cited a Criminal Code article against discrediting the Republic of Belarus, <em>Pozirk<\/em> reported. The charge carries punishment of up to four years in prison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On July 10, human rights defenders identified at least 1,150 political prisoners, but the real number is higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/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\">Reprisals: Belarusians risk arrests at border for social media reactions<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">July 10, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on July 9, with reports of arrests at the border on extremism-related charges linked to social media activities. One of the arrested shared his story on Threads, noting &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/146150\">\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 10, Pozirk. Belarusian authorities have continued their crackdown on dissent and online expression, arresting a businessman for an online comment, pursuing a traveler over a caricature of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and proposing fines for promoting homosexuality. Viasna Brest reported that law enforcers arrested Andrej Aro\u0142, 52, for a like or comment he made online after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-146257","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>Reprisals: Local businessman taken into custody | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"July 10, Pozirk. Belarusian authorities have continued their crackdown on dissent and online expression, arresting a businessman for an online comment,\" \/>\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\/146257\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reprisals: Local businessman taken into custody | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"July 10, Pozirk. Belarusian authorities have continued their crackdown on dissent and online expression, arresting a businessman for an online comment,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/\" \/>\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\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_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\/146257\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/\"},\"headline\":\"Reprisals: Local businessman taken into custody\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T20:29:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/\"},\"wordCount\":279,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/\",\"name\":\"Reprisals: Local businessman taken into custody | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146257\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-07-10T20:29:39+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"July 10, Pozirk. 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