{"id":171864,"date":"2026-01-16T10:48:34","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T07:48:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/171864\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"new-arrests-digital-and-cultural-censorship-reported-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/171864\/","title":{"rendered":"New arrests, digital and cultural censorship reported in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 16,<\/strong> Pozirk.<\/strong><\/em> Police in Belarus arrested seven people suspected of high treason, the state-run STV<\/em> reported yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The TV station showed footage of arrests and interrogations, identifying two detainees as Mikita Kra\u015bko and Andrej Rapiecij and describing them as \u201cmembers of a spy ring operating under the guise of a radio club.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In other incidents reported on January 15, the Partyzanka nonprofit reported two arrests of exiled Belarusian opposition activists in the European Union, one in Romania and the other in Poland, on Interpol notices. The man arrested in Poland has been released after background checks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities in Minsk arrested Juryj Vasile\u016dski, a former forensic expert, accusing him of high treason over donations to opposition initiatives, Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a digital censorship campaign, authorities blacklisted new social media accounts, including the \u0411\u044b\u0442\u044c<\/em> <\/em>\u0438\u043b\u0438<\/em> Telegram channel with more than 300,000 subscribers and its Patreon and YouTube accounts (the latter has more than a million subscribers); the Facebook accounts \u041f\u043e\u043b\u0438\u0442\u0438\u0447\u0435\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/em> <\/em>\u043f\u0430\u0440\u0442\u0438\u044f<\/em> \u201c<\/em>\u041f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0434\u0430<\/em> <\/em>\u0438<\/em> <\/em>\u0421\u043f\u0440\u0430\u0432\u0435\u0434\u043b\u0438\u0432\u043e\u0441\u0442\u044c<\/em>\u201d<\/em>, Belarusy of Canada \/ <\/em>\u0411\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0440\u0443\u0441\u044b<\/em> <\/em>\u041a\u0430\u043d\u0430\u0434\u044b<\/em>, \u0411\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0440\u0443\u0441\u044b<\/em> <\/em>\u0432<\/em> <\/em>\u041f\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u0435<\/em> | Bialorusini w Polsce<\/em>, \u0411\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0440\u0443\u0441\u044b<\/em> i <\/em>\u0413\u0440\u0443\u0437<\/em>i<\/em>\u044f<\/em>. <\/em>\u041d\u0430\u0448<\/em> <\/em>\u0441\u0446\u044f\u0433<\/em> <\/em>\u0431\u0435\u043b\u0430<\/em>–<\/em>\u0447\u044b\u0440\u0432\u043e\u043d\u0430\u0431\u0435\u043b\u044b<\/em>, <\/em>\u043d\u0430\u0448\u0430<\/em> <\/em>\u043c\u043e\u0432\u0430<\/em> <\/em>\u0431\u0435\u043b\u0430\u0440\u0443\u0441\u043a\u0430\u044f<\/em>; and tot_kto_ne_molchit<\/em> on TikTok, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities have expanded the list of tracks banned for performance in karaoke bars to 160 Belarusian, Ukrainian, European, American and Russian songs, CityDog<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) has registered a complaint by Respect-Protect-Fulfill (RPF), a Belarusian NGO, about discrimination against Alena \u0141azar\u010dyk, considered a political prisoner by human rights organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CEDAW urged Belarusian authorities to give the prisoner access to medical assistance outside the correction facility, access to a lawyer and ensure proper detention conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valeryj Mackievi\u010d, the chief of staff at the opposition transition cabinet and the European Choice faction leader in the Coordination Council, reported new attempts by Belarusian secret services to recruit him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The parents of imprisoned journalist Andrej Pa\u010dobut received a letter from their son on December 23. They said that Andrej is in a good mental state but would not elaborate on his physical condition, wiadomosci.wp.pl<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian human rights defenders identified 14 more political prisoners. The new designations include ex-diplomat D\u017amitryj Iljuchin, members of the popular folk bank Stary Olsa<\/em> Ale\u015b \u010cumako\u016d and Siamion Ma\u0142a\u0161enka\u016d and prominent art manager Aleh \u0141ary\u010da\u016d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of them were sentenced on extremism-related charges to prison terms of two years and longer. Some sentences are unknown because the judiciary is closed to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the evening of January 15, human rights defenders documented at least 1,142 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because of many undocumented cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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