{"id":176497,"date":"2026-02-20T11:47:43","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T08:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"reprisals-nearly-400-extremism-cases-filed-in-viciebsk-region-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: nearly 400 \u201cextremism\u201d cases filed in Viciebsk region in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>February 20, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 19 as a judge in Minsk sentenced singer Raman Jurka\u016d to a restricted freedom term in home confinement for allegedly inciting hatred, <em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Officials in the Viciebsk region filed 393 cases on extremist-related charges last year, with 96.2 percent of cases solved, higher than the national average, the BelPol opposition group said. Belarusian authorities routinely use extremism charges to silence critical voices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In 2025, prosecutors in Minsk issued 34 orders to remove books labeled as \u201cextremist\u201d from sale, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Prominent opposition politician Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d was released from prison, Viasna reported, citing the his wife Maryna Adamovi\u010d. He is reportedly recovering after a stroke and has speech problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka pardoned Natalla Levaja, a 39-year-old pregnant woman sentenced to six years in prison in July 2024 for donations to opposition groups and Ukraine support initiatives, Pozirk reported with reference to the Belarusian leader&#8217;s press office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of February 20, human rights defenders identified at least 1,146 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"insert-block\">\n\n    <div class=\"insert-block__img\">\n        <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"354\" height=\"236\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/statkevich_hramada_org_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/statkevich_hramada_org_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/statkevich_hramada_org_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/statkevich_hramada_org_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/statkevich_hramada_org_1128x752-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/statkevich_hramada_org_1128x752.jpg 1128w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 354px) 100vw, 354px\" \/>                        <label class=\"insert-block__tag--mobile\"> Politics<\/label>\n\n                <\/div>\n    <div class=\"insert-block__text\">\n                    <label class=\"insert-block__tag\">Politics<\/label>\n                <h3 class=\"insert-block__title\">Opposition politician Statkievi\u010d released from prison after a stroke<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">February 19, Pozirk. Authorities in Belarus have released Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d, an outspoken critic of the government, from prison, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported citing the politician\u2019s wife. He is recovering after a stroke and has a speech problem, said &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/176396\">\n            <button class=\"btn\">\n                <div class='btn__text'>Read the article<\/div>\n            <\/button>\n        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 20, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 19 as a judge in Minsk sentenced singer Raman Jurka\u016d to a restricted freedom term in home confinement for allegedly inciting hatred, Na\u0161a Niva reported. Officials in the Viciebsk region filed 393 cases on extremist-related charges last year, with 96.2 percent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-176497","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","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>Reprisals: nearly 400 \u201cextremism\u201d cases filed in Viciebsk region in 2025 | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 20, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 19 as a judge in Minsk sentenced singer Raman\" \/>\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\/176497\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Reprisals: nearly 400 \u201cextremism\u201d cases filed in Viciebsk region in 2025 | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 20, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 19 as a judge in Minsk sentenced singer Raman\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/\"},\"headline\":\"Reprisals: nearly 400 \u201cextremism\u201d cases filed in Viciebsk region in 2025\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T08:47:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/\"},\"wordCount\":194,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/\",\"name\":\"Reprisals: nearly 400 \u201cextremism\u201d cases filed in Viciebsk region in 2025 | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pozirk_color_blank_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-02-20T08:47:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-10T12:05:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"February 20, Pozirk. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 19 as a judge in Minsk sentenced singer Raman","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/176497\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Reprisals: nearly 400 \u201cextremism\u201d cases filed in Viciebsk region in 2025 | Pozirk","og_description":"February 20, Pozirk. 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