{"id":47198,"date":"2023-06-10T13:53:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-10T10:53:12","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\/47198\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <b>June 10, <span>BPN<\/span>.<\/b> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 9 while the number of political prisoners kept growing.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Arrested and released\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On June 6, police arrested rock musicians Alaksiej Zapasnik and Arciom Novika\u016d in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Authorities have not disclosed the charges against them.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Authorities released D\u017amitryj \u0160a\u0142ak, the drummer of Paranoia Dolls in Navapo\u0142ack, after he had served a jail term.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Maksim \u017dara\u016d was freed in early June after he had served two years in prison for alleged offenses connected with&nbsp;2020 protests, the Brest branch of Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Criminal proceedings\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A certain Siarhiej Cichi will go on trial in Hrodna on June 12 on charges of illegal collection of data and disclosing state secrets, <span>Hrodna.life<\/span> reported. His personal data coincide with those of a senior police officer in charge of the anti-drug unit in Hrodna. An opposition Telegram channel said he&nbsp;fabricated criminal drug cases and abused people under arrest.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t A judge in the Mahilo\u016d region sentenced Alaksandr Chom\u010danka to one year in prison for allegedly insulting Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka online, Viasna said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t On May 16, a court in Brest placed Hienad\u017a Daro\u017ekin under arrest for three months for an online comment about senior police officials. The court also ruled to confiscate his smartphone and ordered him to pay a total of 2,200 rubels (about $750) in damages to the alleged victims.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Hrodna prosecutors requested a prison term for local trade unionist Maksim Sienik. Authorities accuse him of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, facilitating and financing extremist activities. The verdict is expected&nbsp;early next week.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Other instances of persecution\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed opposition activist U\u0142adzimir Hundar was sent to Penal Colony No 2 in Babrujsk, Mahilo\u016d region, <span>BPN<\/span> reported. The transfer took place a day after a court in Hrodna rejected his appeal against the third criminal sentence given for insulting a prosecutor. Hundar, whose leg had been amputated, is currently serving a cumulative prison term of 20 years on charges widely seen as politically motivated.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Jailed Dzianis Salmanovi\u010d, currently serving a 10-year prison term, was placed in a punishment cell for unknown reasons, Viasna said.&nbsp;Authorities accused him of creating videos for opposition resistance groups. His parents were forced to flee Belarus after his arrest fearing persecution.&nbsp;A year ago, the Committee for State Security (KGB) added Salmanovi\u010d to its terrorist register.&nbsp;\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t As of June 10, human rights defenders identified at least 1,495 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>June 10, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 9 while the number of political prisoners kept growing.&nbsp; Arrested and released On June 6, police arrested rock musicians Alaksiej Zapasnik and Arciom Novika\u016d in Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Authorities have not disclosed the charges against [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-47198","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=\"June 10, BPN. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 9 while the number of political prisoners kept","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\/47198\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"June 10, BPN. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on June 9 while the number of political prisoners kept","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47198\/","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\/47198\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47198\/"},"headline":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution","datePublished":"2023-06-10T10:53:12+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47198\/"},"wordCount":437,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47198\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/47198\/","name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-06-10T10:53:12+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"June 10, BPN. 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