{"id":45601,"date":"2023-02-03T12:49:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-03T09:49:37","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\/45601\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>February 3, <span>BPN<\/span>. <\/b>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Several arrested, one released\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested IT engineer Andrej Filip\u010dyk for alleged promotion of &#8220;Latin script and hatred towards Russian-speaking social and cultural space,&#8221; a pro-government source said. He may face charges of participating in protests. Filip\u010dyk administered <span>Pa-bie\u0142arusku<\/span>, a satirical Telegram channel.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Michai\u0142 Kaviaz, 27, from \u010ca\u0161niki, Viciebsk region, is under arrest for participation in 2020 protests and allegedly signing up for the opposition&#8217;s Pieramoha Plan, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released Pavie\u0142 Pialuch after he had served 15 days in jail on charges of unauthorized picketing, volunteer Illa Mirona\u016d said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities jailed animal rights activist Alena Mira\u0161ni\u010denka from Or\u0161a, Viciebsk region, for 15 days, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. The reason could have been her meeting discussing homeless animals with Or\u0161a residents.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Homiel handed down a 15-day jail sentence on D\u017amitryj \u0160a\u016d\u010denka after finding him guilty of distributing opposition content. \u0160a\u016d\u010denka had not been taken into custody prior to the trial and did not attend the hearing.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk City Court sentenced lawyer Vital Brahiniec to eight years in a high-security penal colony, Viasna said. He was found guilty of forming an extremist group, calling for sanctions, inciting hatred and participating in protests. Human rights groups say these charges are politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Viciebsk sentenced Vasil Trocki to 14 months in prison for allegedly insulting judges and public officials on social media.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk Regional Court will try journalists \u015aciapan Puci\u0142a and Jan Rudzik on February 16 without the defendants being present, the Supreme Court said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities accuse them of forming an extremist group, staging mass riots, calling for the seizure of power and other crimes punishable by long prison sentences. The prosecutors also demanded that the accused pay 30 million rubels (some $11 million) for property damage.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t New criminal cases\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Alena Hna\u016dk, 65, currently serving a term of three and a half years on charges widely seen as politically motivated, was accused of disobeying the penal colony\u2019s administration, Viasna said. She will be held at Homiel\u2019s Penal Colony\u2019s internal prison until February 24.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Kanstancin Za\u0142atych, director of the newspaper <span>Belorusy i Rynok<\/span>, faces a number of serious criminal charges that have not been made public, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) reported. Za\u0142atych has been in custody for eight and a half months. The case against him might be referred to court soon.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &#8220;Terrorist&#8221; list updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Committee for State Security (KGB) has added eight people to its register of individuals and entities allegedly involved in terrorist activity, including people convicted on politically-motivated charges and jailed trade unionists, <span>BPN<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of February 3, human rights defenders identified at least 1,433 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested IT engineer Andrej Filip\u010dyk for alleged promotion of &#8220;Latin script and hatred towards Russian-speaking social and cultural space,&#8221; a pro-government source said. He may face charges of participating in protests. Filip\u010dyk administered Pa-bie\u0142arusku, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45601","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=\"February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\"},\"headline\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-03T09:49:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\"},\"wordCount\":476,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\",\"name\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-03T09:49:37+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","description":"February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested","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\/45601\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/"},"headline":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution","datePublished":"2023-02-03T09:49:37+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/"},"wordCount":476,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/","name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-02-03T09:49:37+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"February 3, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 2. Several arrested, one released Police arrested","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/45601\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/45601","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45601"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=45601"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}