{"id":45906,"date":"2023-03-01T13:23:48","date_gmt":"2023-03-01T10:23:48","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\/45906\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>March 1, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 28.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Several arrested, one released\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested at least six people in Dziar\u017eynsk, Minsk region, following reports of an attack on the Ma\u010duli\u0161\u010dy military airfield, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. A court jailed them for two days for allegedly disobeying police orders. All have been released. Human rights defenders say that some of them were beaten in custody.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested former firefighter Maksim Sta\u0161ulonak, 32, upon his return to Belarus. Authorities accuse him of participating in protests. In 2020, Sta\u0161ulonak lost his job after warning residents in a Minsk neighborhood about a police raid.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Homiel police arrested a total of 200 people, including 183 minors, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported. Most of them are linked to Redan, a youth subculture popular in Russia and Ukraine that organizes mass brawls in shopping malls. The juvenile police will deal with those under 16, while older teenagers may be charged with minor offenses. Eyewitnesses said that some of them were subjected to violence during the arrest.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A resident of Sviet\u0142ahorsk, Homiel region, is under arrest after returning from Russia, the interior ministry said. Authorities arrested him over messages allegedly insulting Belarusian public officials.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released Jan Rymaro\u016d from \u017d\u0142obin, Homiel region, after he had served two years of a restricted freedom sentence for allegedly insulting a public official, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities jailed Ihar \u0160umila\u016d for 15 days for distributing opposition content, Viasna said. He lost his leg in a traffic accident 10 years ago.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Homiel sentenced Kanstancin \u0141apicki to three years in prison for online comments allegedly inciting hatred and insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka, the Homiel branch of Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Pinsk, Brest region, sentenced blogger Mika\u0142aj Klimovi\u010d, 61, to one year in prison over a caricature of \u0141uka\u0161enka circulated in social media, the Belarusian Association of Journalists said. He has a disability as a result of a heart condition.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk City Court will start hearing a case against Irena Klaviec on March 6, Viasna reported. Authorities accuse the former employee of the Minsk cadaster agency of leaking personal data to <span>Chernaya Kniga Belarusi<\/span> (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t New criminal cases\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Hrodna region&#8217;s authorities filed criminal charges against three Belarusians for giving interviews to independent media outlets deemed extremist in Belarus, the Investigative Committee said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Bus\u0142y Lacia\u0107 activists and upheld their lengthy prison sentences, the Prosecutor General&#8217;s Office reported. They were convicted of six crimes, ranging from inciting hatred to participating in terrorist activities.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities summoned imprisoned blogger Ihar \u0141osik to a court in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, in a debt recovery case, <span>Radio Svaboda<\/span> reported. He is currently serving a 15-year prison term in a case widely seen as politically motivated. \u0141osik and the other five defendants were ordered to pay 22 million rubels ($7.9 million) in damages to the interior ministry. Last summer, authorities put up for sale personal property they had confiscated from the \u0141osik family.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities will hear Darja \u0141osik&#8217;s appeal on March 21, Viasna reported. In January, the blogger&#8217;s wife was given two years in prison for an interview with <span>Belsat TV<\/span> that authorities deem extremist.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Former political prisoner Ivan Kraso\u016dski lost a forced deportation lawsuit in Ukraine and must leave the country, he said on Instagram. He fled Belarus after he was handed down a three-year restricted freedom sentence.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The family of imprisoned journalist Dzianis Iva\u0161yn has not been able to contact him in prison since February 8, Haradzienskaja Pravaabarona said. His parents think authorities might have transferred him to a prison in Hrodna. He is currently serving a 13-year term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t New political prisoners&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Belarusian human rights groups declared 12 more people political prisoners, Viasna said. They all were arrested or convicted over protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of March 1, human rights defenders identified at least 1,461 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>March 1, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 28. Several arrested, one released Police arrested at least six people in Dziar\u017eynsk, Minsk region, following reports of an attack on the Ma\u010duli\u0161\u010dy military airfield, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. A court jailed them for two days for allegedly disobeying [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-45906","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=\"March 1, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 28. 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