{"id":174206,"date":"2026-02-04T11:41:57","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T08:41:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174206\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-keep-targeting-belarusians-for-tracking-russian-military-activities-since-2022","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/174206\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals keep targeting Belarusians for tracking Russian military activities since 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

February 4, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 3, with more reports coming in on persecution over links to Bie\u0142aruski Hajun, a now-defunct online initiative that monitored Russian military activities in Belarus from 2022 to 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna Human Rights Center has so far confirmed at least 175 arrests in the case, yet the total number of detainees may be significantly higher, as arrests and trials are still taking place across Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by jailed blogger Maksim \u0160ukana\u016d, sentenced to four years in prison in the Bie\u0142aruski Hajun case, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office said. His father Ihar \u0160ukana\u016d and fianc\u00e9e\u00a0Palina Zyl are also held behind bars. Rights groups consider their persecution to be politically motivated. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Authorities released U\u0142adzimir Patapienka, the founder of the Midi.by <\/em>music school who was arrested last November upon his return from Warsaw, the man said on Instagram. He was accused of facilitating extremist activities over alleged links to Bie\u0142aruski Hajun. The conditions of his release remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extremist designations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian interior ministry labelled Bud\u017ama Bie\u0142arusami, an initiative that promotes Belarusian culture, language and education, as an \u201cextremist\u201d group last week, blacklisting budzma.org<\/em>, all affiliated social media pages, email address, logo and PayPal account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The information ministry also announced extremist content designations for President Alexander Lukashenko<\/em>, denzor_den<\/em>, wolnabialorus<\/em>, nalesniki_razem<\/em>, zerkalo_story<\/em> and storks_history<\/em> on Instagram; Igor Losik<\/em>, alexander.fruman<\/em> and storks_history<\/em> on Threads; Izrail i Belarus.RAZAM<\/em> and AXYENA ART <\/em>on Telegram; ezhikgrigencha<\/em> on TikTok; Michal Barouski <\/em>on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A high-treason case against journalist Pavie\u0142 Dabravolski was sent to the Minsk City Court, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reported. The trial is expected in late February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of February 4, human rights defenders identified at least 1,149 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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