{"id":45664,"date":"2023-02-10T13:22:46","date_gmt":"2023-02-10T10:22:46","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\/45664\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>February 10, <span>BPN<\/span>. <\/b>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 9.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests and releases\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk police arrested lawyer Maksim Ahieje\u016d, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Charges against him and his whereabouts are unknown. Ahieje\u016d was a defense attorney in several politically-motivated cases, including the Bie\u0142hazprambank case, which was opened after former CEO Viktar Babaryka had announced his presidential bid in 2020.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police also arrested businessman Piotr Staracitora\u016d from Mazyr, Homiel region, for antiwar comments in social media, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported. Authorities may charge him with inciting hatred.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t IT professional D\u017amitryj Litvinienka, 34, is under arrest for anti-Russian comments in the context of Russia&#8217;s war on Ukraine, Viasna said. His arrest is linked to certain Ihar Kaniu\u0161yk who provokes people into talking about politics in a Telegram video chat and then passes the footage to police.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released political prisoner Ivan Andru\u0161oj\u0107 after he had served in full three and a half years in prison for allegedly hacking into the computer systems of the Minsk City Executive Committee in 2020.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Hrodna businessman Anton Janko\u016dski was released after 15 days in jail on charges of distributing opposition content.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities also released Ja\u016dhien Damaracki and D\u017amitryj Novik after they had served two years in prison each over protests, the Homiel branch of Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities sentenced Aleh Ju\u0161kievi\u010d and Mikita Karpienka to two years in prison each, Viasna said. Ju\u0161kievi\u010d was accused of insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and public officials; Karpienka, of inciting hatred and insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk City Court sentenced former student Kaciaryna Chu\u0142cha\u010dyjeva to two years in prison for online comments on the 2021 shootout involving an IT engineer and KGB officers, known as the &#8220;Zielcer case.&#8221; She had already served this term in pre-trial detention and was released in the courtroom.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in the Mahilo\u016d region sentenced U\u0142adzis\u0142a\u016d Mazura\u016d and Illa Kavalo\u016d to three months in jail on charges of abusing state symbols, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in the Minsk region sentenced footballer Juryj D\u017een\u017eera to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement over 2020 protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in the Brest region ordered Siarhiej A\u016ddzieje\u016d to undergo compulsory medical treatment for insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka in social media. He was reportedly diagnosed with a mental disorder.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A prosecutor has requested lengthy prison terms ranging from nine to twelve years for Ale\u015b Bialacki, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d, U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d and \u0179micier Sa\u0142a\u016djo\u016d from the Viasna Human Rights Center. Authorities accuse them of smuggling cash across the border and financing protests. The verdict will be pronounced in early March.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Information ministry unblocked the website of <span>Intex Press<\/span>, an independent media outlet based in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, after over a year of blocking it, Intex-press.by reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of February 10, human rights defenders identified at least 1,442 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 10, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 9. Arrests and releases Minsk police arrested lawyer Maksim Ahieje\u016d, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Charges against him and his whereabouts are unknown. Ahieje\u016d was a defense attorney in several politically-motivated cases, including the Bie\u0142hazprambank case, which was opened after [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45664","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 10, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 9. 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