{"id":45178,"date":"2023-01-04T12:40:31","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T09:40:31","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\/45178\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>January 4, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 2 and 3.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Minsk resident Andrej (last name unknown) for participation in 2020 protests after he had returned to Belarus from abroad. Authorities identified him on the picture from Shutterstock stock photo service, pro-government sources said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police also arrested another Belarusian upon his return from Poland for online comments about policemen. Authorities accused him of sharing personal data with pro-opposition media outlets.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Ja\u016dhien Liviant, a renowned teacher and co-founder of the 100 Ballov education center, was jailed for 14 days on charges of petty hooliganism, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Authorities also jailed his wife Julia for 15 days; his daughter Hanna and his associate Alaksiej Ivano\u016d, for 14 days each. Liviant&#8217;s son-in-law Mikita Drozd is also under arrest. They all are suspected of participating in 2020 protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Viciebsk-based art manager U\u0142adzimir Bu\u0142a\u016dski, arrested in mid-December, was not released after spending 15 days in custody and might have been jailed again, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities accused Veranika Ivanova of distributing opposition content for sharing a link to the Belarusian Kastu\u015b Kalino\u016dski volunteer regiment fighting Russia in Ukraine, her Instagram page says. A court will hear the case against her on January 10.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Homiel added 20 months to the prison sentence of jailed regime opponent Andrej Padniabienny (Andrey Podnebenny) for allegedly facilitating extremist activity, insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and a public official, and inciting hatred, Viasna said. Padniabienny had been sentenced to 15 years in prison in June on charges that human rights defenders condemned as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities sentenced D\u017amitryj An\u010duko\u016d to one year of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility for protest graffiti, and Mikita Bohu\u0161, to two years of restricted freedom in home confinement for participation in 2020 protests, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Ja\u016dhien H\u0142u\u0161ko\u016d from Ziabra\u016dka, Homiel region, went on trial in Homiel. Human rights defenders say that authorities persecute him for taking a picture of the Ziabra\u016dka military airfield.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A Minsk judge will try opposition leader \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja and four other opposition activists on January 17 without the defendants being present, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. They face a number of criminal charges, including conspiracy to seize power, in connection with the 2020 presidential election and post-election protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Terrorist list updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) added five people accused in politically-motivated cases to its terrorist list, taking a total of blacklisted Belarusians to 247, <span>BPN<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk City Court will hear appeals by convicted United Civic Party (UCP) head Mika\u0142aj Kaz\u0142o\u016d, UCP Minsk chapter head Aksana Alaksiejeva and former deputy chair Antanina Kavalova on January 31, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities have not yet charged Kanstancin Za\u0142atych, director of the newspaper <span>Belorusy i Rynok<\/span>, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said. He has been in custody for over seven months.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed political analyst Alaksandr Fiaduta is in a prison hospital in Mahilo\u016d with heart problems, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported. He is currently serving a 10-year prison term on charges of conspiracy to seize power.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of January 4, human rights defenders identified at least 1,446 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 4, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 2 and 3. Arrests Police arrested Minsk resident Andrej (last name unknown) for participation in 2020 protests after he had returned to Belarus from abroad. Authorities identified him on the picture from Shutterstock stock photo service, pro-government sources said. Police also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45178","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=\"January 4, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 2 and 3. 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