\n May 5, BPN.<\/b> Belarus witnessed new cases of politically-motivated persecution on May 4, with authorities targeting citizens for their online activities. The pretext for persecution ranged from social media likes to donations to political causes.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t Among the persecuted were an elementary school teacher who was arrested while teaching her class and an engineer who created an architectural database. On the other hand, a former soccer player who publicly condemned post-election violence was released after serving 13 days in jail.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t Arrested and released\n<\/p>\n
\n\t Police arrested Maryna Korda, an elementary school teacher in Dok\u0161ycy, Viciebsk region, as she was teaching a class, exiled opposition activist Kastu\u015b \u0160ytal wrote on Facebook. Her persecution may be linked to likes on social media.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t In April, Minsk police arrested U\u0142adzimir Fi\u0161man, an engineer and creator of the Photobuildings.com architectural database, Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported. Authorities said Fi\u0161man signed up to the opposition\u2019s Pieramoha Plan, but did not disclose the exact charges against him. His current whereabouts are unknown.\n<\/p>\n \n\t Authorities released Alaksandr Jackievi\u010d, a former FC Krumka\u010dy soccer player after he had served 13 days in jail, Tribuna<\/span> reported. Police arrested him in connection with a picture that he had posted to publicly condemn post-election violence in 2020.\n<\/p>\n \n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n \n\t Valeryj Ramano\u016dski, accused of high treason, is on trial at the Viciebsk Regional Court, Mediazona reported. Authorities closed the proceedings to the public. A state-run TV channel described him as “a former head of air reconnaissance” who reportedly passed secret information to Lithuanian security forces.\n<\/p>\n \n\t Bartender Hleb Vieta\u0161kin went on trial in Homiel on charges of inciting hatred and participating in protests, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.\n<\/p>\n \n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n \n\t The Minsk City Court will hear appeals by Aksana Zareckaja, a member of the Coordinating Council for Political Crisis Settlement, and advertising specialist Bahdan Karaviec on May 19. In March they were sentenced to 18 months and two years in prison, respectively, in connection with peaceful post-election protests.\n<\/p>\n \n\t The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by jailed reporter Andrej Pa\u010dobut (Andrzej Poczobut) on May 26, the Belarusian Association of Journalists (BAJ) said. On February 8, the Hrodna Regional Court sentenced Pa\u010dobut, a Polish minority activist, to eight years in prison on charges of inciting hatred and seeking to undermine national security.\n<\/p>\n \n\t Alexei Moskalev, a Russian national arrested in Belarus and extradited to Russia, complained of severe beating by Belarusian security officers, the Russian human rights group OVD-Info reported.\n<\/p>\n \n\t Belarusian authorities blocked access to Intex-Press<\/span>, the Baranavi\u010dy-based local news website, citing multiple violations of the media law, the Prosecutor General’s Office reported. On April 29, a judge labeled Intex-Press<\/span> and its social media “extremist” content.\n<\/p>\n \n\t New political prisoners\n<\/p>\n \n\t Belarusian human rights groups labeled Andrej Barana\u016d, Anton Ohij, U\u0142adzisla\u016d Papo\u016d, Viktoryja Ha\u016drylina and Arciom Labied\u017aka as political prisoners. They were persecuted for donations to political causes or contributions to independent media, which judges interpreted as extremism.\n<\/p>\n \n\t As of May 5, human rights defenders identified at least 1,499 political prisoners.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" May 5, BPN. Belarus witnessed new cases of politically-motivated persecution on May 4, with authorities targeting citizens for their online activities. The pretext for persecution ranged from social media likes to donations to political causes. Among the persecuted were an elementary school teacher who was arrested while teaching her class and an engineer who created […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-46732","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n