{"id":45745,"date":"2023-02-17T12:50:10","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T09:50:10","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\/45745\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>February 17, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 16.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police placed an <span>Intex Press<\/span> journalist from Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, in custody for 72 hours on unknown charges, <span>Intex Press<\/span> reported. One day earlier, law enforcers raided the <span>Intex Press<\/span> office, seizing equipment over alleged YouTube posts.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police also arrested Pavie\u0142 Durejka accused of administering a local opposition Telegram chat in Ru\u017eany, Brest region, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A resident of Pru\u017eany, Brest region, is under arrest for talking about Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka&#8217;s role in Russia&#8217;s war on Ukraine in a Telegram chat with a police informant Ihar Kaniu\u0161yk, the Brest branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities jailed Kanstancin Je\u016dtu\u0161enka from Navapo\u0142atsk, Viciebsk region, for 15 days on charges of unauthorized picketing, Viasna said. The Palimir chemical plant fired him later.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Mika\u0142aj Ma\u0161arski from Rasony, Viciebsk region, was given 25 days in jail, according to Viasna.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Homiel sentenced Pavie\u0142 Rakoca to 18 months in prison for allegedly inciting hatred and insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna said. Human rights defenders think that he might be persecuted over his antiwar comments in social media.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Viciebsk sentenced prominent surgeon Alaksiej Alaksiej\u010dyk to two and a half years in prison on charges of calling for sanctions.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk Regional Court started hearing a case against journalist Raman Pratasievi\u010d, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. \u015aciapan Puci\u0142a, <span>Nexta<\/span> media project founder, and journalist Jan Rudzik, are tried in absentia as a part of the same case. 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.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Minsk started hearing a case against D\u017amitryj Ple\u0161avenia, Ludmi\u0142a Cybulskaja, Juryj Dzikovi\u010d and Siarhiej La\u016dko accused of participating in protests, Viasna said. Police arrested them in November 2022 over a picture from a protest rally.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Hrodna Regional Court will start hearing a case against former police inspector Andrej \u0160klar on February 20. He is charged with high treason and disclosing data of a preliminary investigation, a Telegram channel monitoring politically-motivated persecution in Hrodna and the Hrodna region said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Ludmi\u0142a Kohan, 68, will go on trial in Brest on February 21 over protest graffiti, the Brest branch of Viasna reported. Anatol Puha\u010d, 28, will go on trial on the same day in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, for allegedly insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna said. Puha\u010d has cancer and returned to Belarus for medical tests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Appeals\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Supreme Court upheld the five-year prison sentence against Anastasija Kuchto convicted of participating in protests and establishing an extremist group, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Committee for State Security (KGB) has been threatening people who had made donations over Facebook in 2020-2021 with criminal charges and is extorting money from them, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Political prisoners\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities transferred jailed opposition activist Pavie\u0142 Vinahrada\u016d to Penal Colony No. 11 in Va\u016dkavysk after he completed his tuberculosis treatment at Penal Colony No 12 in Or\u0161a, Viciebsk region, his wife Sviat\u0142ana said on Facebook. Vinahrada\u016d is currently serving a five-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Human rights defenders have added 15 more people to the political prisoners&#8217; list, including those convicted over protests and on charges of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of February 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,445 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 17, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 16. Arrests Police placed an Intex Press journalist from Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, in custody for 72 hours on unknown charges, Intex Press reported. One day earlier, law enforcers raided the Intex Press office, seizing equipment over alleged YouTube posts. Police also [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45745","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 17, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 16. 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