{"id":1701,"date":"2023-08-10T11:59:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T08:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=1701"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-19","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/1701\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>August 10,&nbsp;<em>BPN<\/em>.<\/strong>&nbsp;New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 9 as dissenters faced charges ranging from protest activities online to participating in extremist groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested Ihar Bahrycevi\u010d for using the Pahonia coat of arms in the World of Tanks game, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. In the police video, he admitted to writing &#8220;insulting&#8221; online comments and participating in a 2020 post-election rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A man from Kobryn, Brest region, was briefly detained after returning to Belarus from the European Union, the pro-government channels said. He allegedly came to police voluntarily and was released on his own recognizance after three days in jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested Volha and D\u017amityj Ra\u017avied\u010dyka\u016d on charges of participating in protests, pro-government sources said, noting that both were identified in a Telegram chat where all participants used their real names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Ukrainian national is under arrest for anti-Russian comments on social media, pro-government channels said. He faces criminal charges and may be imprisoned or deported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former Belarusbank CEO Anatol Bahovik and his wife Ivana went on trial in Minsk on protest-related charges, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Hrodna sentenced Alaksandar Bireta to two years in prison on charges of slander and insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and public officials, hpravy.org reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Andrej Fokin and his wife Natalla were given two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement over protests; and Siarhiej Mo\u0142a\u0161, three years, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 59-year-old man in Homiel was charged with inciting hatred, insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka and participating in an extremist group, Viasna said. Police forwarded his case to prosecutors for referral to court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksiej Mile\u016dski was given a one-year prison term for online comments on social media, the Homiel branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arciom Labied\u017aka, son of exiled opposition politician Anatol Labied\u017aka, will go on trial in Minsk on August 21, Viasna reported. Authorities accuse him of financing an extremist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Ta\u0142a\u010dyn, Viciebsk region, fined Volha Kubarskaja, a mother of four, 1,110 rubels (about $350) for allegedly sharing opposition content and ruled to confiscate her smartphone, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, jailed a local man for 13 days for a Ukrainian flag and a pro-Ukrainian slogan on his Facebook page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Extremist content update<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities blacklisted several opposition Telegram channels,&nbsp;<em>koshturada.by&nbsp;<\/em>as well as<em>&nbsp;r\u0430bochi_rux<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>merchfre\u0435dom<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>nastassia.rouda<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>hajtaktv<\/em>, and&nbsp;<em>novychas<\/em>&nbsp;TikTok accounts as extremist content, says the information ministry&#8217;s website. Other blacklisted content includes social media pages and logos of an association of Belarusian students and an independent investigative initiative exposing crimes of Belarusian authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of August 10, human rights defenders identified at least 1,491 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>August 10,&nbsp;BPN.&nbsp;New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 9 as dissenters faced charges ranging from protest activities online to participating in extremist groups. Arrests Police arrested Ihar Bahrycevi\u010d for using the Pahonia coat of arms in the World of Tanks game, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. In the police video, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-1701","articles","type-articles","status-publish","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>Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 10,&nbsp;BPN.&nbsp;New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on August 9 as dissenters faced charges ranging from\" \/>\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\/1701\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on arrests, 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