{"id":44559,"date":"2022-11-19T19:21:10","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T16:21:10","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\/44559\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>November 19, <span>BPN.<\/span><\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 18.<\/p>\n<p> Arrests<\/p>\n<p> Law enforcers arrested Vital \u010cabatar, the vicar of Mahilo\u016d\u2019s Roman Catholic parish of St. Anthony of Padua and a provincial vice dean, on November 17, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reported. Details are yet to be revealed. <\/p>\n<p> Trials<\/p>\n<p> A judge in the S\u0142onim district, Hrodna region, sentenced European Belarus campaigner Viktar Mar\u010dyk to seven days in prison for sharing \u201cextremist content\u201d in an online chat in 2020 and 2021, Telegram channel <span>Sudy, Zaderzhaniya. Grodno i Oblast<\/span> wrote.<\/p>\n<p> On November 18, the Minsk City Court began hearing a case of discrediting Belarus and grossly disturbing public order. The defendants are former state TV journalist \u0179micier \u0141uk\u0161a and his wife Palina Pa\u0142avinka, as well as Anastasija Javorskaja, Dzianis Javorski and Kanstancin Nikanora\u016d. \u0141uk\u0161a, Pa\u0142avinka and Javorski are in custody, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n<p> Awakening Our Memories guitarist Alaksandr Ku\u010darenka was sentenced to two years of restricted freedom without referral to an open-type correctional facility, a type of home confinement. Judge Ta\u0107ciana \u0160ocik of Minsk\u2019s Leninski District Court found him guilty of gross violations of public order. Law enforcers arrested him in early August for sharing a video from YouTube channel <span>ByPol<\/span>, and opened a criminal case when he was in custody, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> The Hrodna District Court sentenced political prisoner Alesia Bunievi\u010d to three-and-a-half years for crossing the Belarusian border illegally. Originally, she was charged with terrorism in a \u201crail partisans\u201d case, but the charge was later tweaked, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> The \u017d\u0142obin District Court, Homiel region, sentenced local resident Viktar \u010cara\u016dko\u016d to two years of restricted freedom for participating in a protest rally on August 9, 2020. He was accused of obstructing traffic and companies\u2019 work, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> A district court sentenced Ema \u015aciepulonak, 69, a former Belarusian language and literature teacher from Miory, Viciebsk region, to two years in prison for insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and a public official. The woman had been in custody for almost a year, but was placed under house arrest in mid-September 2022. When the verdict was announced, she was taken into custody again, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> A district court in Minsk sentenced public activist Mika\u0142aj Arciucho\u016d to two-and-a-half years in prison. Judge Natalla Dziadkova convicted him for calling for protests on social media in 2020, Viasna said.<\/p>\n<p> Mika\u0142aj Kacura from Homiel was sentenced to a year-and-a-half in prison and fined 3,200 rubels (some $1,300). Judge Alaksandr Mochara\u016d of a district court in Homiel found him guilty of discrediting Belarus for commenting on VK about a shootout between IT professional Andrej Zielcer and KGB officer D\u017amitryj Fiedasiuk, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> Harsher punishment<\/p>\n<p> Law enforcers transfer a Baranavi\u010dy blogger, political prisoner D\u017amitryj Cimafieje\u016d, from an open-type correctional facility to a prison for three-and-a-half months, as ruled by a district court in Viciebsk. Cimafieje\u016d was kept in a punishment cell for at least 70 days, and his health seriously deteriorated, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n<p> Special proceedings<\/p>\n<p> Investigative Committee Chairman D\u017amitryj Hara announced special proceedings against \u015aciapan Puci\u0142a, a co-founder and editor of the <span>Nexta <\/span>Telegram channel, and Stanis\u0142a\u016d \u0141upanosa\u016d, the former officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs\u2019 organized crime unit GUBOPiK who resigned after the 2020 presidential election. The Investigative Committee says Puci\u0142a coordinated organization of protests, <span>SB.by<\/span> wrote. \u0141upanosa\u016d was charged with attempted terrorism and unauthorized handling of data. <\/p>\n<p> Extremist lists<\/p>\n<p> On November 18, the Ministry of Internal Affairs added 97 names to its register of people involved in extremist activities. The total figure now stands at 1,881.<\/p>\n<p> Belarusian courts labeled as \u201cextremist content\u201d five electronic issues of the <span>Slovo Belorusov<\/span> underground newspaper, Telegram channels <span>Mediki s Narodom (Viciebsk)<\/span>, <span>Pravo na Vosstaniye<\/span>, <span>Tekhas Dlya Zhizni. Lida<\/span>, Telegram chats <span>Nezavisimyy Profsoyuz Gomyelya<\/span>, <span>Devyatovko, Grodno<\/span>, and the song&nbsp;\u201cBa\u0165ko Nash \u2013 Bandera, Ukraina \u2013 Maty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As of November 18, human rights defenders identified at least 1,427 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>November 19, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 18. Arrests Law enforcers arrested Vital \u010cabatar, the vicar of Mahilo\u016d\u2019s Roman Catholic parish of St. Anthony of Padua and a provincial vice dean, on November 17, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reported. Details are yet to be revealed. Trials A judge in the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-44559","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 19, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 18. 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