{"id":45714,"date":"2023-02-15T12:25:24","date_gmt":"2023-02-15T09:25:24","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\/45714\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>February 15, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 14.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Several arrested, one released\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk police arrested Siarhiej Bie\u0142y, 50, for comments about policemen, pro-government sources said. He also allegedly registered in the opposition&#8217;s Pieramoha Plan.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Musician Alaksandr Chadasievi\u010d is under arrest for comments in the Telegram messaging app and for posting on YouTube his cover version of Wind of Change by Scorpions in Belarusian featuring videos from 2020 protests, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released Raman Smolkin after he had served in full two years of restricted freedom at an open-type correctional facility for allegedly insulting a police officer, the Viasna Human Rights Center said. He spent the last nine months in a penal colony where he was placed for alleged &#8220;regime violations.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Brest Regional Court sentenced former policeman Alaksandr Sumar to nine years in prison on charges of creating an extremist group, participating in protests, slandering Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka and calling for sanctions, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in the Hrodna region sentenced doctor Ja\u016dhien Bu\u017eynski to six years in prison and a fine of 1,850 rubels (over $660) on six criminal charges, including inciting hatred, threatening public officials with violence and insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, MAYDAY.TEAM reported. Earlier, authorities blacklisted him as a terrorist.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t U\u0142adzimir Ba\u0142cianko\u016d from the Brest region was given three years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility for online comments about \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Minsk sentenced Hanna Smalan to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement over 2020 protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Brest sentenced Artur D\u017eamburyje\u016d, 20, to two months in jail for protest graffiti, the Brest branch of Viasna reported.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in the Minsk region added six months to the six-year prison term for Vasil Dzemidovi\u010d, 70, convicted over online comments, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Homiel Regional Court started hearing a case against Pavel Kupryenko, a Ukrainian, and D\u017amitryj Salavian\u010dyk and Taras Ma\u010dynski, residents of the Homiel region. Authorities accuse them of spying, high treason and concealing crimes. Earlier, state-run media claimed that they were collecting and transmitting data on the location of railway junctions and military equipment movements.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities placed Darja \u0141osik, wife of imprisoned journalist Ihar \u0141osik, in pre-trial detention in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, pending her appeal. In mid-January, authorities sentenced her to two years in prison for giving an interview to <span>Belsat TV<\/span> deemed extremist in Belarus, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Extremist groups\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Prosecutor General Andrej \u0160vied petitioned the Supreme Court to declare the Belarusian Investigative Center (BIC) an extremist group and ban its activities, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. The center, headed by journalist Stanis\u0142a\u016d Iva\u0161kievi\u010d, specializes in investigative journalism and uncovers corruption among senior Belarusian officials.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of February 15, human rights defenders identified at least 1,437 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 15, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 14. Several arrested, one released Minsk police arrested Siarhiej Bie\u0142y, 50, for comments about policemen, pro-government sources said. He also allegedly registered in the opposition&#8217;s Pieramoha Plan. Musician Alaksandr Chadasievi\u010d is under arrest for comments in the Telegram messaging app and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45714","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 15, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 14. 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