{"id":49812,"date":"2023-11-17T11:42:57","date_gmt":"2023-11-17T08:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=49812"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-72","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/49812\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>November 17, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 16, including new arrests and a lengthy prison sentence. A prominent journalist was awarded the status of a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested fitness trainer Alaksandar Jakuta in Minsk for participating in protests, <em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>U\u0142adzimir Celapun may be under arrest in Mazyr, Homiel region, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center said. On November 15, he did not show up for a local meeting with the Constitutional Court judge that he planned to attend.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pavie\u0142 Pilipienka was arrested in the Hrodna district on charges of participating in protests and insulting public officials, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On November 2, judge Uladzimir Caryka\u016d in Viciebsk passed another 15-day jail sentence against Alaksandar Han\u010daro\u016d, head of the anesthesiology department at the regional hospital, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said. Authorities accused him of sharing opposition content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Judge Marharyta \u0141ancevi\u010d in Hrodna sentenced \u015aciapan Zadojka to five and a half years in prison on October 24, Viasna reported. Charges against him included insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and public officials, abusing the state symbols and threatening violence against officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arciom Janko\u016dski will go on trial in Hrodna on November 17 on charges of staging mass riots, a Telegram channel monitoring politically-motivated persecution in Hrodna and the Hrodna region reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New political prisoners<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rights groups declared former journalist Andrej To\u0142\u010dyn a political prisoner, Viasna said. Authorities accuse him of calling for sanctions that allegedly harm national security.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Detention conditions<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Women\u2019s Colony No. 24 administration transferred Viktoryja Kul\u0161a to the internal prison for an unknown term, Viasna said. She is serving four and a half years in prison for running an opposition chat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Rights activist Alaksandar Vaicie\u0161yk, jailed for 15 days on November 9 in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, went on a hunger strike, local activist Juryj Kazakievi\u010d said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities have not released Vasil Palako\u016d, human rights defender and former chair of the United Civic Party, after he served 15 days in jail, the Homiel branch of Viasna said. He might have been charged with another minor offence or may face criminal charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In late October, a judge in Viciebsk ruled to shut down Almaz, an international public association that assisted teenagers, people with disabilities and seniors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of November 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,451 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>November 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 16, including new arrests and a lengthy prison sentence. A prominent journalist was awarded the status of a political prisoner. Arrests Police arrested fitness trainer Alaksandar Jakuta in Minsk for participating in protests, Na\u0161a Niva reported. U\u0142adzimir Celapun may be under [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-49812","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=\"November 17, Pozirk. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on November 16, including new arrests and a lengthy prison","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\/49812\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"November 17, Pozirk. 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