{"id":46327,"date":"2023-04-01T13:39:47","date_gmt":"2023-04-01T10:39:47","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\/46327\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>April 1, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on March 31.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrested and released\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Viktoryja Varaksina in Kobryn, Brest region, for allegedly administering a local Telegram chat and participating in the 2020 protests, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police also arrested D\u017amitryj Papko\u016d, Ihar \u010carnavusa\u016d, Kanstancin Hvo\u017adzie\u016d and U\u0142adzimir Kamienno\u016d in Homiel, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported. Authorities described all four as a &#8220;sleeper cell of extremists&#8221; with ties to Belarusians fighting Russia in Ukraine&nbsp;but have not&nbsp;disclosed the exact charges against them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk police arrested a certain Ignat R., 29, and charged him with a minor offense, a pro-government source said. He may face criminal charges for alleged &#8220;ties with the special services of Ukraine and Poland.&#8221;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released opposition activist U\u0142adzimir Niapomnia\u0161\u010dych, 70, after he had served two and a half years in prison for allegedly insulting and threatening a public official with violence, politician Anatol Labied\u017aka said on&nbsp;Facebook.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities jailed photographer Ihar Suprunionak, Po\u0142ack museum worker Alena Chodzikava and her colleagues Ka\u015bciu\u010denka and \u0160ybko (first names unknown) for 15 days, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Museum researcher Ihar Bortnik was jailed for 10 days. Sources say they are persecuted for sharing opposition content.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t New criminal cases\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities transferred bodybuilder Alaksandr \u0160arabajka into a pre-trial detention center in Viciebsk after he had served 10 days in jail, Viasna reported. He may be charged with insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Minsk sentenced Maksim Siela\u017anio\u016d, a defendant in a police car bombing case, to 15 years in prison. The car was reportedly attacked in early January near Minsk\u2019s Centralny district police department. As part of the same case, police also arrested D\u017amitryj Marcinievi\u010d for failing to report the crime.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\tVital \u010carnavusa\u016d, an IT specialist, was&nbsp;tried&nbsp;for&nbsp;donating to opposition initiatives, but authorities have not disclosed the ruling.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Minsk City Court started hearing a case against Rus\u0142an Zavadzi\u010d, an IT professional and a former volunteer with Achova Ptu\u0161ak Backa\u016d\u0161\u010dyny, an outlawed environmental group. Authorities persecute him for donating $75 to the opposition&#8217;s ByHelp initiative and former presidential hopeful Valer Capka\u0142a.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Vadzim Niachaj from Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region, will go on trial on April 4 on charges of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka and calling for protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A court in Homiel will hear a new case against jailed opposition activist Alena Hna\u016dk, 66, who is accused of disobeying prison authorities. She is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically-motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Supreme Court reduced Iryna Hara\u010dkina&#8217;s six-year prison sentence by one month on appeal, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. She was convicted in the high-profile &#8220;A\u016dtuchovi\u010d case&#8221; with prison sentences ranging from two and a half to 25 years. Human rights groups declared all 12 defendants political prisoners.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities transferred anarchist activist Mikita Jemialjana\u016d from Penal Colony No 11 in Va\u016dkavysk, Hrodna region, to Prison No 1 in Hrodna, the <span>AChK&nbsp;Belarus <\/span>Telegram channel with links to anarchist groups reported. In early 2020, authorities sentenced him to four years in prison over alleged paint and Molotov cocktail attacks on a court building and Minsk\u2019s Detention Center No.1. The activist repeatedly went on hunger strikes in custody protesting pressure from&nbsp;prison administration.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities placed imprisoned Ja\u016dhien Vis\u0142avuch in Penal Colony No 1 in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, the Homiel branch of Viasna said. He is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year term for allegedly&nbsp;inciting hatred, illegal handling of personal data, and insulting public officials.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Extremist list updates\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Interior Ministry added 41 names to its list of &#8220;persons involved in extremist activities,&#8221; taking the total to 2.637, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Additions include defense analyst Jahor Lebiadok, sentenced to five years in prison for allegedly promoting extremism, and bloggers Kaciaryna and Siarhiej \u010care\u0161ka, convicted over 2020 protests.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of April 1, human rights defenders identified at least 1,474 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>April 1, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on March 31. Arrested and released Police arrested Viktoryja Varaksina in Kobryn, Brest region, for allegedly administering a local Telegram chat and participating in the 2020 protests, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Police also arrested D\u017amitryj Papko\u016d, Ihar \u010carnavusa\u016d, Kanstancin Hvo\u017adzie\u016d and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-46327","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=\"April 1, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on March 31. 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