{"id":44783,"date":"2022-12-06T12:42:58","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T09:42:58","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\/44783\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>December 6, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 5.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested a Social Democratic party activist, D\u017amitryj Ple\u0161avenia, after his return from Latvia for participating in protests, pro-government sources said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Psychiatrist Maksim Zajca\u016d was arrested for comments about Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and Brest official Alaksandr Raha\u010duk; IT engineer Illa \u0160akira\u016d, for comments allegedly insulting police officers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested several people in the Braslav district, Viciebsk region, including Alena Selech and the family of farmers U\u0142ladzis\u0142a\u016d and Julia Karol, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. The reasons for the arrests are unknown. According to preliminary information, women were later released.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities jailed musicians of The Tor Band, Ja\u016dhien Bur\u0142o and D\u017amitryj Ha\u0142ava\u010d from Raha\u010do\u016d, Homiel region, for 15 days for the third time in a row, <span>RFE\/RL<\/span> Belarus Service reported. Authorities reportedly plan to punish them &#8220;for every song&#8221; and also persecute Raha\u010do\u016d residents who starred in their music videos. Their current jail term expires on December 13.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk Regional Court sentenced five defendants in the case of People\u2019s Self-Defense Units (OGSB) to large fines and lengthy prison terms ranging from 13 to 20 years, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. They faced a number of terrorism-related charges. Authorities accused Vadzim Hulevi\u010d, Kiry\u0142 A\u0161urak and Alaksiej H\u0142ota\u016d of attempting to blow up a communication center in Vilejka, Minsk region; Natalla Ma\u0107viejeva, of attempted destruction of logging equipment at a forestry farm; D\u017amitryj Sasno\u016dski, of attempted murder of state television journalist Ryhor Azaronak.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Mahilo\u016d Regional Court upheld the prosecutor\u2019s request to add another year to the prison term for Siarhiej Lalin, previously sentenced to one year for insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka and a public official, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In November, courts passed guilty verdicts in three other cases for insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna said. Alesia Stalar\u010duk from Brest and Iryna Karatkievi\u010d from Homiel received two-year restricted freedom sentences in home confinement each. U\u0142adzimir Saldata\u016d from Biaroza, Brest region, received two years of restricted freedom with referral to the open-type correctional facility for 2020 online comments.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities accuse Hienad\u017a Ma\u017eejka, a former journalist with <span>Komsomolskaya Pravda v Belarusi <\/span>of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka during a public meeting of voters with MP Valer Varaniecki in 2020. Ma\u017eejka has been in custody since October 2021 over an article he wrote on the 2021 shootout that left two people dead, IT engineer Andrej Zielcer and a KGB officer. His trial started at the Minsk City Court on December 1.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk Regional Court has started hearing a case against Vital Melnik behind the closed doors, Viasna reported. Authorities accuse him of an arson attack on the railway\u2019s relay cabinet in March 2022. Police shot Melnik in both knees during his arrest. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities transferred convicted opposition activist Maryja Kale\u015bnikava from a Homiel hospital back to prison, where she was allowed to see her father, Viktar Babaryka\u2019s campaign reported. She will remain at a prison medical ward for at least 10 more days after being treated for perforated ulcer.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Designated terrorists\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Committee for State Security (KGB) added five people to its register of people involved in terrorism, including Juryj Ziankovi\u010d, Anastasija Kuchta and Andrej Harun, whom human rights groups consider political prisoners, BPN reported. The KGB also blacklisted Ta\u0107ciana Ko\u0142as, an insurance company employee, and Illa Smaluha. Both were convicted of inciting hatred. The list currently features 968 names, with 227 Belarusians among them. It also has one German and one Latvian, charged for political reasons in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Content blacklisted as extremist\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities blacklisted the <span>YouTube Belarusi<\/span> Telegram channel as extremist content,<span> BPN <\/span>reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of December 6, human rights defenders identified at least 1,445 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 6, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 5. Arrests Police arrested a Social Democratic party activist, D\u017amitryj Ple\u0161avenia, after his return from Latvia for participating in protests, pro-government sources said. Psychiatrist Maksim Zajca\u016d was arrested for comments about Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and Brest official Alaksandr Raha\u010duk; IT engineer Illa [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-44783","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=\"December 6, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 5. 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