{"id":44414,"date":"2022-11-09T03:23:13","date_gmt":"2022-11-09T00:23:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/articles\/update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/44414\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>November 9, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 8.<\/p>\n<p> Arrests<\/p>\n<p> Police in Homiel arrested football fan Alaksiej Barsuko\u016d for a photo of him posing with an opposition flag in Germany, <span>Flagshtok <\/span>reported. Police also accused the man of subscribing to \u201cextremist\u201d Telegram channels, describing&nbsp;him as the leader of a \u201cneo-Nazi football gang.\u201d<\/p>\n<p> The <span>STV<\/span> television channel aired \u201cpenitent\u201d videos of five men who were detained allegedly after&nbsp;contacting the Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski Regiment via a chatbot, <span>Mediazona<\/span> reported. They are: Alaksandr Bialeje\u016dski, U\u0142adzis\u0142a\u016d Da\u016djetas, Juryj Palityka, Alaksiej Kalibab and Ja\u016dhien U\u0142adzimira\u016d.<\/p>\n<p> Police arrested a man for traces of the Pahonia coat of arms sticker on his car\u2019s registration plate. They also accused the man of participating in protests in Minsk in August 2020, pro-government Telegram channels reported.<\/p>\n<p> Anton Fursa, a resident of Hrodna, was arrested upon his return from Poland for undesirable comments on Telegram, pro-government channels wrote.<\/p>\n<p> Trials<\/p>\n<p> A district court in Minsk sentenced Minsk resident Vital Cymon\u010dyk to 10.5 years in prison for gross violations of public order and illegal trafficking in narcotic drugs. It also fined Cymon\u010dyk 3,200 rubels (some $1,300). In addition, the court ordered that the man\u2019s passport wallet and white-red-white scarf be destroyed. The sentence was announced on August 8, but human rights activists have only learned about it now. The decision has come into effect, and Cymon\u010dyk has been transferred to a prison. The Viasna Human Rights Center reported that he had pleaded not guilty.<\/p>\n<p> The Minsk City Court sentenced political prisoner Siarhiej Ryndzievi\u010d to two years in prison for online comments on the 2021 shootout involving an IT engineer and KGB officers, known as the \u201cZielcer case.\u201d Viasna reported that he was found guilty of inciting hatred and insulting a public official. He was also fined 6,400 rubels.<\/p>\n<p> A district court in Minsk sentenced Anton Ka\u015bciu\u010denka to 18 months in prison, Viasna reported. Presumably, the man was charged with participating in 2020 protests.<\/p>\n<p> On December 1, the Minsk City Court will hear the case of political prisoner Hienad\u017a Ma\u017eejka, a former journalist of <span>Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi<\/span>, Viasna reported. He is charged with insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and inciting hatred over an article about the Zielcer case.<\/p>\n<p> The Minsk City Court is hearing the case of businessman Hleb H\u0142adko\u016dski, 37, Viasna reported. For comments on the Zielcer case, he was charged with insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, inciting hatred, calling for sanctions or shocks on Belarus and obstructing journalistic activity. <\/p>\n<p>Alesia Bunievi\u010d will go on trial on November 14 in the Hrodna District Court on charges regarded by human rights defenders as politically motivated. She is charged with illegal crossing of the border, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> Prosecutors referred to court a criminal case against military expert Jahor Lebiadok, 40, a resident of the Minsk region\u2019s Smalavi\u010dy district, the Prosecutor General\u2019s Office said. He is charged with facilitating extremist activity for his interviews with \u201cextremist\u201d media.<\/p>\n<p> Other incidents<\/p>\n<p> The administration of the Va\u016d\u010dynyja Nory penal colony in the Brest region\u2019s Ivacevi\u010dy district petitioned for tougher penalties for artist Ale\u015b Pu\u0161kin&nbsp;and his transfer to a prison. A judge will consider the petition on November 11, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> A judge ordered&nbsp;defendants in the high-profile \u201cCichano\u016dski case\u201d to&nbsp;pay 22 million rubels for extra hours that police had to work&nbsp;during the 2020 protests, Viasna reported. Six political prisoners were convicted in the case: Siarhiej Cichano\u016dski (18 years in prison), Arciom Saka\u016d (16 years), D\u017amitryj Papo\u016d (16 years), Ihar \u0141osik (15 years), U\u0142adzimir Cyhanovi\u010d (15 years) and Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d (14 years).<\/p>\n<p> Extremist content and groups<\/p>\n<p> The authorities declared posts on Telegram channels <span>PRA NAS<\/span>, <span>Maleykovshchizna, Lida<\/span>, <span>Molodezhnyy, Lida<\/span> and in the <span>Pruzhanka\/Pruzhanets<\/span> Telegram chat extremist content. They also attached this label to VK community <span>Plokhiye Novosti Belarus<\/span>. On November 1, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added to its&nbsp;register of extremist groups the followers of the Belarusian National Shield Union on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Belarus had at least 1,390 political prisoners as of the evening of November 8.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November 9, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 8. Arrests Police in Homiel arrested football fan Alaksiej Barsuko\u016d for a photo of him posing with an opposition flag in Germany, Flagshtok reported. Police also accused the man of subscribing to \u201cextremist\u201d Telegram channels, describing&nbsp;him as the leader of a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-44414","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=\"November 9, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 8. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 8. Arrests Police in Homiel arrested football fan","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\/44414\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"November 9, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 8. 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