{"id":2898,"date":"2023-09-27T12:10:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T09:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=2898"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-26","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2898\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>September 27,\u00a0<em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 26 with 11 more people, mostly those convicted of defamation, designated political prisoners by human rights groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested former university lecturer Vital Drazdo\u016d for allegedly running an opposition Telegram chat, writing about 15,000 comments and cooperating with the pro-opposition group Kiber Partizany (Cyber Partisans),&nbsp;<em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em>&nbsp;reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A man is under arrest for posting a message in a fake opposition chat and allegedly participating in 2020 protests, a pro-government source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police also arrested a man for insulting a person wearing Wagner Group symbols and holding the red-green state flag, a pro-government source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities released Aleh \u010cycykaj\u0142a after he had served 18 months in prison for allegedly insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Via\u010das\u0142a\u016d Jachnaviecki, a resident of the Viciebsk region, was fined 2,220 rubels (over $680) for having the Pahonia coat of arms on his passport cover, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said. Authorities accused him of breaking regulations governing mass events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Dok\u0161ycy, Viciebsk region, found local official Ina Kimsta\u010d guilty of sharing opposition content, the&nbsp;<em>Vitebsk, ja gulayu!<\/em>&nbsp;Telegram channel said. Authorities have not disclosed the punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vasil \u0160\u010duka went on trial in Viciebsk on charges of insulting public officials, Viasna\u2019s Viciebsk branch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar Mancevi\u010d, 64, editor in chief of the privately-owned newspaper&nbsp;<em>Rehijanalnaja Hazieta<\/em>, will go on trial in Ma\u0142adzie\u010dna, Minsk region, on September 27,&nbsp;<em>BPN&nbsp;<\/em>reported. Authorities accuse him of discrediting the Republic of Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On September 29, the Supreme Court will hear an appeal against prison sentences imposed for an alleged arson attack on MP Aleh Hajdukievi\u010d\u2019s home, BPN reported. Eighteen people were given terms ranging from 25 to two years in prison on multiple charges, including terrorism and forming an extremist group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities transferred former monk Alaksandar Tarasienka, currently serving a two-year prison term for allegedly insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, to Mahilo\u016d\u2019s penal colony, the Homiel branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Infobank.by, a financial and economic media outlet currently based abroad, announced its closure. In 2020, its team supported the protests and joined a nationwide strike. Access to the website was blocked in Belarus two years later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New political prisoners<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rights groups declared 11 people political prisoners, Viasna reported. Most of them were convicted of defamation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of September 27, human rights defenders identified at least 1,493 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>September 27,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 26 with 11 more people, mostly those convicted of defamation, designated political prisoners by human rights groups. Arrested and released Police arrested former university lecturer Vital Drazdo\u016d for allegedly running an opposition Telegram chat, writing about 15,000 comments and cooperating with the pro-opposition [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-2898","articles","type-articles","status-publish","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>Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"September 27,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 26 with 11 more people, mostly those\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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