{"id":199306,"date":"2026-08-09T12:51:56","date_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:51:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/"},"modified":"2026-08-09T12:51:58","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T09:51:58","slug":"rights-defenders-document-over-100000-reprisal-cases-since-2020","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/","title":{"rendered":"Rights defenders document over 100,000 reprisal cases since 2020"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"775\" height=\"550\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay.jpg 775w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay-333x236.jpg 333w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay-690x490.jpg 690w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay-768x545.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 775px) 100vw, 775px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(pixabay.com)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>August 9, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> The Viasna Human Rights Center has documented more than 100,000 cases of politically-motivated persecution since 2020, including arrests, searches, interrogations, criminal convictions and pressure on activists and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A total of 4,602 people have been granted political prisoner status in the six years since the disputed presidential election in Belarus. As of August 9, human rights defenders identified at least 879 political prisoners, but their real number may considerably higher because many cases go undocumented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since 2020, at least 10,016 people have faced politically-motivated criminal charges, with 8,670 individuals convicted, including in absentia, Viasna said. Nearly 4,000 people have been convicted over their participation in the 2020 postelection protests, while thousands of others were forced to flee the country fearing reprisals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rights defenders said 178 political prisoners are currently considered at particularly high risk because of serious illnesses, age or family circumstances. Some are held in solitary confinement or remain imprisoned even after serving their full sentences, the report noted. At least nine jailed dissidents died behind bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, not a single criminal case against law enforcers responsible for torture, ill-treatment or deaths linked to politically-motivated persecution has been documented.<\/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\/06\/bel_eu_flagi_1128x752-354x236.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bel_eu_flagi_1128x752-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bel_eu_flagi_1128x752-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bel_eu_flagi_1128x752-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bel_eu_flagi_1128x752-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/bel_eu_flagi_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\">Democratic countries reaffirm solidarity with Belarusians on 2020 election anniversary<\/h3>\n        <div class=\"insert-block__descr\">August 9, Pozirk. The European Union and other democratic countries have expressed their solidarity with Belarusians on the sixth anniversary of the 2020 presidential election that sparked countrywide protests against election fraud. \u201cToday marks the sixth year since the fraudulent &#8230;<\/div>\n        <a class=\"insert-block__btn-block\" href=\"\/en\/news\/199298\">\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>August 9, Pozirk. The Viasna Human Rights Center has documented more than 100,000 cases of politically-motivated persecution since 2020, including arrests, searches, interrogations, criminal convictions and pressure on activists and their families. A total of 4,602 people have been granted political prisoner status in the six years since the disputed presidential election in Belarus. As [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":87832,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-199306","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>Rights defenders document over 100,000 reprisal cases since 2020 | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"August 9, Pozirk. 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The Viasna Human Rights Center has documented more than 100,000 cases of politically-motivated persecution since 2020, including\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-08-09T09:51:58+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"775\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\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\/199306\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/\"},\"headline\":\"Rights defenders document over 100,000 reprisal cases since 2020\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-09T09:51:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-09T09:51:58+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/\"},\"wordCount\":192,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/\",\"name\":\"Rights defenders document over 100,000 reprisal cases since 2020 | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/199306\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/repressii_pixabay.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-09T09:51:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-09T09:51:58+00:00\",\"description\":\"August 9, Pozirk. 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