{"id":47003,"date":"2023-05-26T11:46:47","date_gmt":"2023-05-26T08:46:47","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\/47003\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>May 26, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 25 with reprisals targeting the Viciebsk region\u2019s university professors, priests and factory workers.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrests\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Police arrested Alaksandr \u0160a\u016dco\u016d, the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church&#8217;s priest in Po\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, <span>BPN<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Viciebsk region&#8217;s police also arrested Roman Catholic priests Andrej Kulik and Via\u010das\u0142a\u016d Adamovi\u010d in Miory, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija initiative reported. The reasons remain unclear.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Alaksandr Jaskevi\u010d, a driver with the local poultry farm, has been under arrest since May 23 in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. He had been jailed before on politically-motivated charges.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Barys Vitko is under arrest for allegedly insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka, a pro-government source said. Earlier he had served two years of restricted freedom in home confinement.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Minsk police arrested a man, his wife and her father on charges of participating in 2020 protests, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Viktar Kavalo\u016d, Vadzim U\u0142asa\u016d, Valeryj Le\u015bniko\u016d and Juryj Haj\u010danka were arrested at Naftan oil refinery in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, <span>Na\u0161a Niva<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Trials\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Architecture professor Halina Zacharkina, arrested on May 25 in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, was fined 2,960 rubels (over $1,000), <span>BPN<\/span> reported. Authorities found her guilty of violating the order of holding mass events and sharing content deemed extremist in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A district court in Minsk sentenced Ja\u016dhien Liviant, a co-founder of the 100 Ballov education center, to three years of restricted freedom in home confinement. His daughter Hanna and son-in-law Mikita Drozd were given the same terms; his wife Julija, daughter Halina and business partner Alaksiej Ivano\u016d, two and a half years of restricted freedom each; Alaksandra Ensajn (Vil\u010dyckaja) 18 months, <span>Narodnaja Vola<\/span> reported.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of May 26, human rights defenders identified at least 1,516 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number of political prisoners at around 5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>May 26, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 25 with reprisals targeting the Viciebsk region\u2019s university professors, priests and factory workers. Arrests Police arrested Alaksandr \u0160a\u016dco\u016d, the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church&#8217;s priest in Po\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, BPN reported. Viciebsk region&#8217;s police also arrested Roman Catholic priests Andrej Kulik and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-47003","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=\"May 26, BPN. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 25 with reprisals targeting the Viciebsk region\u2019s university","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"May 26, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on May 25 with reprisals targeting the Viciebsk region\u2019s university","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/"},"headline":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution","datePublished":"2023-05-26T08:46:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/"},"wordCount":322,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47003\/","name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-05-26T08:46:47+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"May 26, BPN. 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