{"id":172736,"date":"2026-01-23T11:15:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:15:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/172736\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-exiled-activists-jailed-regime-critics-under-pressure","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/172736\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: exiled activists, jailed regime critics under pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 23, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 21 and 22, with lengthy sentences targeting exiled activists and reports coming in of pressure on inmates at the Homiel pre-trial detention center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A judge in Viciebsk sentenced Alena \u017dy\u0142a\u010dkina (\u017dyvah\u0142od), Zaryna Sarokina, Aleh Davyd\u010dyk and Cimafiej Ma\u0142acho\u016dski to lengthy prison terms on extremism-related charges without the defendants being present, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. All are linked to the Honest People initiative that documented election fraud in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parcels sent to inmates at the Homiel pre-trial detention center are not delivered if recipients provide incorrect information about the senders, MAYDAY.TEAM<\/em> reported, noting that it is not yet clear whether this is a new general rule. Since the start of the month, several such cases have been documented.

Latvian national Dmitriy Sivko was sent to compulsory psychiatric treatment in Belarus after a trial in 2022 on charges of insulting officials, Viasna reported. Rights defenders do not know his current whereabouts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarus ranked in the top five jailers of journalists as of December 20025, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said. With 25 jailed reporters, it was listed fifth after China (50), Myanmar (30), Israel (29) and Russia (27). However, recent data by the BAJ suggest that the number of jailed reporters in Belarus rose to at least 42 by mid-January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 23, human rights defenders identified at least 1,150 political prisoners, but the real number is considerably higher because many cases remain undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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