{"id":2981,"date":"2023-09-22T11:46:00","date_gmt":"2023-09-22T08:46:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=2981"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-28","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>September 22,\u00a0<em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong>\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals against Belarusians returning home from abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested a man after he had contacted a chatbot linked to a law enforcement agency with a message ending in \u201c\u017dyvie Belarus!\u201d (Long Live Belarus!), a popular greeting prohibited in Belarus after the 2020 protests, a pro-government Telegram channel said. Authorities have not disclosed the charges against him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Minsk jailed journalist Siarhiej Hardzijevi\u010d for 15 days for allegedly sharing opposition content,&nbsp;<em>Mediazona<\/em>&nbsp;reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Minsk City Court sentenced businessman Pavie\u0142 Charytona\u016d to five years in prison for donations to opposition initiatives, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jailed D\u017amitryj Su\u0161\u010dyk was given an additional year and 15 days in prison for allegedly disobeying prison administration, Viasna said. He is currently serving a 15-month prison term on charges of insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and abusing state symbols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A prosecutor in Brest requested a four-year prison term for psychology lecturer Alesia Lancevi\u010d for donations to opposition initiatives in 2020 and social media posts&nbsp;allegedly insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka and officials, Viasna reported. The verdict is expected on September 26.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Software engineer Maksim Mnacakana\u016d went on trial in Minsk, Viasna reported. He faces a total of 10 criminal charges, ranging from inciting hatred to facilitating extremism, for a couple of online comments that he posted in 2020 and 2021. Police arrested him upon his return to Belarus from abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hrodna region&#8217;s prosecutors forwarded to court a case against IT worker Alaksandra Kasko from Va\u016dkavysk, a Telegram channel monitoring politically-motivated persecution in Hrodna and the Hrodna region reported. Following her return from Poland, she was charged under eight criminal articles for two interviews with a media outlet deemed extremist in Belarus. Police also accused her of administering an opposition Telegram channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Former military officer Pavie\u0142 Ku\u010dynski will go on trial at the Minsk Regional Court on October 4, Viasna reported. He faces seven criminal charges, including high treason and creating and running a terrorist organization. Authorities have not disclosed any further details of the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Extremist content update<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities blacklisted a number of opposition Telegram channels and chats as extremist content. Additions feature a Telegram channel run by exiled political analyst D\u017amitryj Balkuniec, the&nbsp;<em>Volny. Belarus<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>borby_org<\/em>&nbsp;Instagram accounts and the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski page on TikTok, according to the information ministry&#8217;s website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of September 22, human rights defenders identified at least 1,497 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 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals against Belarusians returning home from abroad. Arrests Police arrested a man after he had contacted a chatbot linked to a law enforcement agency with a message ending in \u201c\u017dyvie Belarus!\u201d (Long Live Belarus!), a popular greeting prohibited [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-2981","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 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals\" \/>\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\/2981\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"September 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\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\/2981\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/\"},\"headline\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-22T08:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/\"},\"wordCount\":446,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/\",\"name\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-09-22T08:46:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"September 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","description":"September 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals","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\/2981\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"September 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/"},"headline":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution","datePublished":"2023-09-22T08:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/"},"wordCount":446,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/","name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-09-22T08:46:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","description":"September 22,\u00a0Pozirk.\u00a0New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on September 21 as authorities stepped up reprisals","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/2981\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/2981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=2981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}