{"id":45472,"date":"2023-01-25T14:06:11","date_gmt":"2023-01-25T11:06:11","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\/45472\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>January 25, <span>BPN<\/span>. <\/b>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 23 and 24.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Danii\u0142 Horman, Vital Pa\u0142avinski, Vadzim \u0160afranski, Vital \u0141oba\u010d, Siarhiej Ciera\u0161ko\u016d after an elaborate hoax in an opposition Telegram chat, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police also arrested Natalla Ilji\u010d, a mother of two, upon her return from Poland for comments in protest chats back in 2020.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Michai\u0142 Kuchar\u010duk from Kobryn, Brest region, was arrested for writing at least 860 comments in the Telegram messaging app, the Brest branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t D\u017amitryj Zahaloviec from Viciebsk is under arrest for online comments, Viasna said. Authorities accuse him of calling people to build barricades, derail trains and physical violence against policemen.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Hrodna police arrested Alaksandr Pasterniak on charges of facilitating extremist activities for contacting a major opposition Telegram channel in February 2022 and reporting an alleged offensive of Belarusian troops against Ukraine, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Cab driver Siarhiej Charytanovi\u010d is under arrest for comments about pro-government propaganda workers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police also arrested Mahilo\u016d engineer Illa Sazona\u016d for distributing opposition content, MAYDAY.TEAM reported. Sources say that he might be a son of Ihar Sazona\u016d, a former rector of Belarusian-Russian University.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk police arrested vocal instructor \u0141adaryja Ku\u017aniacova on charges of participating in protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal cases\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Viciebsk art manager and musician U\u0142adzimir Bula\u016dski faces criminal charges over pictures from 2020 protests, Viasna said. He has been arrested five times since 2020.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Tor Band musicians Ja\u016dhien Bur\u0142o, D\u017amitryj Ha\u0142ava\u010d and Andrej Jarem\u010dyk also face criminal charges and were placed in pre-trial detention in Homiel, Na\u0161a Niva said. On January 16, authorities blacklisted the band as an extremist group.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Teacher Ja\u016dhien Liviant, his daughter Hanna, wife Julija as well as Alaksiej Ivano\u016d, co-founder of Liviant&#8217;s 100 Ballov education center, are accused of participating in protests. All four remain in the detention center on Va\u0142adarskaha Street in Minsk.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities sentenced Andrej Maconak from Hrodna to one year in prison for allegedly insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka in social media, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Beltelecom employee Danii\u0142 Zajac was given a two-year prison sentence over protests and alleged insults of public officials and threats of violence against police officers, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court sentenced U\u0142adzimir Zubiec, Inha and Karyna Rejdolf to two years of restricted freedom in home confinement each over protests, while Maksim Mickievi\u010d was given the same term for critical comments about the late foreign minister U\u0142adzimir Makiej back in 2021, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Brest pensioner Natalla Malec was given 18 months of restricted freedom in home confinement for online comments; and English teacher Darja Cyrkun, three years, for participating in 2020 protests, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities jailed former university lecturer Mika\u0142aj Ba\u0144ko\u016d and his wife Sviat\u0142ana for 15 days on charges of disorderly conduct, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Detention conditions\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities listed imprisoned former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka as &#8220;prone to hostage-taking, aggression and attacks on the prison administration&#8221; for scratching a windowsill while cutting lard, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Former KGB officer Illa Trubin, sentenced to 16 years in prison on charges of arson, was placed in a punishment cell.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Extremist content updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities blacklisted the <span>Novy \u010cas<\/span> Telegram channel as extremist content, the Prosecutor General&#8217;s Office reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk prosecutors said large online stores were selling a book by former SS officer Otto Skorzeny blacklisted as extremist in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities did not release cameraman Pavie\u0142 Padabied after three days had passed since his arrest, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Pro-government sources published a photo of his <span>BelaPAN<\/span> identification card, although he has another job now. They also displayed two Nazi Germany badges, probably from his collection.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of January 25, human rights defenders identified at least 1,437 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 25, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 23 and 24. Arrests Police arrested Danii\u0142 Horman, Vital Pa\u0142avinski, Vadzim \u0160afranski, Vital \u0141oba\u010d, Siarhiej Ciera\u0161ko\u016d after an elaborate hoax in an opposition Telegram chat, Na\u0161a Niva reported. Police also arrested Natalla Ilji\u010d, a mother of two, upon her return from [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45472","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 25, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 23 and 24. 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