{"id":45096,"date":"2022-12-28T12:57:18","date_gmt":"2022-12-28T09:57:18","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\/45096\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>December 28, <span>BPN<\/span>. <\/b>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Ihar Karolik and forced him to&nbsp;confess&nbsp;to support of &#8220;fascist ideology&#8221; in front of a camera&nbsp;over his pro-Ukraine position, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Homiel sentenced Dzianis Dzikun to 23 years, D\u017amitryj Ravi\u010d to 22 years, and Aleh Ma\u0142\u010dana\u016d to 21 years in prison on charges of high treason for damaging a railway relay cabinet, Viasna said. The court also ruled to fine them 4,800 rubels (about $1,790) each and confiscate their valuables.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Sabotage on the Belarusian railway started after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 as a form of antiwar protest. The goal was to slow down the transportation of Russian military equipment through Belarus to the warzone.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities postponed the trial of electronic trade union leaders, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Judge Anastasija Papko cited new circumstances in the case but has not set a new date yet. The union&#8217;s longtime leader Hienad\u017a Fiadyni\u010d, acting chair Vasil Bierasnie\u016d, and activist Via\u010das\u0142a\u016d (Vac\u0142a\u016d) Are\u0161ka were accused of inciting hatred, calling for sanctions, and creating and running an extremist group.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Juryj Ziankovi\u010d went on trial on a new charge of insulting a public official, Viasna said. The Belarusian-born US lawyer is serving an 11-year prison&nbsp;sentence for an alleged plot to seize state power. He had signed a pre-trial agreement with investigators, pleaded guilty and helped investigators gather evidence against other defendants.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t U\u0142adzimir Hundar, a disabled man sentenced to 18 years in prison, faces a new trial on charges of insulting the prosecutor, the Brest branch of Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Supreme Court upheld an eight-year prison sentence against former state television journalist Ksienija \u0141uckina, convicted of plotting to seize power.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities sentenced Rus\u0142an Krasa\u016d from Hrodna to three years in prison and Andrej Krasnik, from Lida, Hrodna region, to three and a half years for insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna reported. Krasnik was also accused of insulting a top military official.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The trial of former MTBank employees Ina Hlinskaja and her daughter Valeryja Hlinskaja opened at the Minsk City Court. Their persecution is related to <span>Chernaya Kniga Belarusi <\/span>(Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Political prisoners under pressure\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Investigative journalist Dzianis Iva\u0161yn threatened to cut his wrists in protest against&nbsp;mistreatment by prison authorities and was transferred to a punishment cell, his wife Volha said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Prominent opposition politician Mika\u0142aj Statkievi\u010d, currently serving 14 years in prison, is in solitary confinement again, his wife Maryna Adamovi\u010d said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Opposition activist Anton Sta\u0161e\u016dski, sentenced to eight years in prison, was placed in a punishment cell for 10 days, MAYDAY TEAM said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities investigate&nbsp;Russian comedian with Belarusian roots Andrej Skarachod apparently in connection with his&nbsp;jokes about Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and other officials, pro-government sources said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Blacklisted content\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities blacklisted <span>Carkva-gazeta.by<\/span>, a Greek Catholic community\u2019s website and its social media as extremist content, <span>BPN<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of December 28, human rights defenders identified at least 1,453 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>December 28, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27. Arrests Police arrested Ihar Karolik and forced him to&nbsp;confess&nbsp;to support of &#8220;fascist ideology&#8221; in front of a camera&nbsp;over his pro-Ukraine position, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Trials A court in Homiel sentenced Dzianis Dzikun to 23 years, D\u017amitryj Ravi\u010d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45096","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 28, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27. Arrests Police arrested Ihar Karolik and","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\/45096\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"December 28, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 27. 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