{"id":166178,"date":"2025-11-29T12:31:37","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T09:31:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166178\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"criminal-prosecution-of-dissidents-censorship-reported-on-november-27-28","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/166178\/","title":{"rendered":"Criminal prosecution of dissidents, censorship reported on November 27, 28"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 29, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> New instances of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus on November 27 and 28 included a criminal case against a prominent journalist, extremism trials and lengthy sentences, the expansion of extremist and terrorist lists and bizarre censorship targeting Christmas decorations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities filed extremism charges against Iryna Chalip, who works for Russia\u2019s exiled Novaya Gazeta Europe<\/em>, novayagazeta.eu<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vital Kavalenka, an activist based in Jelsk, Homiel region, arrested on May 13, was sentenced to three years in prison on extremism charges over messages he had allegedly sent to the Bie\u0142aruski Hajun Telegram chatbot hacked by security services, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aleh Huryn, a former security officer, was also convicted of extremism and sentenced to three years of \u201crestricted freedom\u201d in an open-type correctional institution, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Belarusian court sentenced Vasil Vieramiej\u010dyk, a former volunteer fighter of the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski Regiment that fights alongside Ukrainian forces, to 13 years in prison, Belsat <\/em>reported citing his wife, Ja\u016dhienija.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities in Belarus designated 23 convicts as extremists and three as terrorists\u2014the labels usually applied to opponents of the government sentenced on politically-motivated charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The \u201cterrorists\u201d\u2014Valer Hryhonis, U\u0142adzimir Ku\u0161ner and Alaksandar Va\u0142\u010dok\u2014were convicted of inciting social hatred, apparently in connection with social media posts, and also of calling for sanctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus\u2019 interior ministry has added Radio Plato<\/em>, an online music station run by Belarusians, to its list of extremist groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original decision to blacklist the radio station was taken by the Committee for State Security (KGB) on November 20.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KGB conducted a search earlier this week as part of an investigation targeting the Warsaw-based Belarusian Analytical Workshop, which conducted opinion polls in Belarus, Pozirk<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Prosecutor General\u2019s Office classified Christmas decorations with images of Soviet dissident poetess \u0141arysa Hieniju\u0161 as \u201cproducts related to the rehabilitation of Nazism,\u201d ordering the Kaladnaja Krama to remove the item from sale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office argued that Hieniju\u0161 had been convicted of high treason and membership of an anti-Soviet group by a Soviet court in 1949. It claimed that she had authored an appeal to Adolf Hitler during the Second World War, when she lived in Czechoslovakia. \u201cHer activity was closely linked to Nazi propaganda on occupied Belarusian lands,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe [Soviet] Supreme Court found that there were no grounds for her exoneration,\u201d it added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Office issued the order after the Minsk-based Kaladnaja Krama Christmas shop came under verbal attacks from propaganda show host Ksienija Lebiedzieva and pro-Russian influencer Volha Bondarava for marketing the Hieniju\u0161 images. Bondarava reportedly asked police to bring charges against the shop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of November 28, human rights organizations listed 1,243 political prisoners in Belarus, though the actual number is believed to be significantly higher due to numerous undocumented cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observers attribute the recent decline in documented cases to the Supreme Court\u2019s decision to block public access to its electronic schedule of trials and its database of rulings since early April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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