{"id":186529,"date":"2026-05-06T16:25:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:25:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/186529\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T16:25:33","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T13:25:33","slug":"maladziecna-man-given-lengthy-prison-term-upon-return-to-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/186529\/","title":{"rendered":"Ma\u0142adzie\u010dna man given lengthy prison term upon return to Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n (Hasan Almasi \/ unsplash.com)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 6, Pozirk. <\/em><\/strong>Alaksandar Karnieje\u016d from Ma\u0142adzie\u010dna, Minsk region, who had been found guilty of threatening a police officer with violence in a 2024 trial in absentia, has been recently sentenced to five and a half years in prison upon his return to Belarus, rights defenders said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man reportedly resided in Poland yet returned to Belarus for unknown reasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new trial featured charges of facilitating extremist activities over Karnieje\u016d\u2019s alleged ties to the Dapamoha initiative that helped Belarusians fearing politically-motivated persecution flee to Lithuania, according to the Viasna Human Rights Center. Authorities also fined him 42,000 rubels (nearly $15,000).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier this year, the interior ministry branded Karnieje\u016d as a person \u201cinvolved in extremist activities.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viasna urged exiled Belarusians to avoid trips home over the risks of persecution on political grounds. Over the past year, hundreds of people were arrested upon return to Belarus as part of a crackdown on regime critics, ongoing since the 2020 political crisis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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