{"id":54866,"date":"2023-12-12T11:26:35","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T08:26:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=54866"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-88","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/54866\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>December 12, <em>Pozirk<\/em>. <\/strong>New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between December 9 and 11 as authorities kept harassing opposition supporters and dissenters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Committee for State Security (KGB) agents arrested 20 people in Po\u0142ack and Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, sources told <em>Pozirk<\/em>. They may have been in contact with Siarhiej Jeramieje\u016d, a Navapo\u0142ack man arrested in Russia on suspicion of blowing up trains on the Baikal-Amur Mainline railway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities released Michai\u0142 \u0141apienas and Hienad\u017a Smirno\u016d after both had served prison terms given in politically-motivated cases, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Searches<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 5 and 6, police raided several Mahilo\u016d apartments, MAYDAYMog reported. Human rights defenders link the searches to extremist labels assigned earlier to <em>mogilev.media<\/em> and <em>6TV<\/em>, local media outlets. According to preliminary data, police came to Barys Vyrvi\u010d, Alaksandar Ahieje\u016d, Alaksiej Baciuko\u016d, Ihar \u0160arucha, Siarhiej Antona\u016d and Piotr Mihurski.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dzianis Kamiahin, a Hrodna medical school instructor and a father of four, was fined 1,110 rubels (about $350) for a reaction on social media, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Viciebsk sentenced Siarhiej Zajca\u016d to two and a half years in prison on charges of insulting a public official, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 19, the Brest Regional Court will hear a new case against exiled Vadzim Prakopje\u016d, co-founder of the Belarusian volunteer regiment Pahonia and former restaurateur, <em>Pozirk<\/em> reported. Charges against him include insulting and slandering Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and public officials, inciting hatred and calling for sanctions. Earlier, authorities sentenced him to 25 years in prison in an arson case, which was heard without the defendant being present.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities transferred jailed opposition activist Jana Pin\u010duk to the women&#8217;s prison in Homiel, Viasna said. She is serving a 12-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Supreme Court will hear an appeal against the dissolution of the New Life Church on December 12, Chry\u015bcijanskaja Vizija reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of December 12, human rights defenders identified at least 1,475 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>December 12, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between December 9 and 11 as authorities kept harassing opposition supporters and dissenters. Arrested and released The Committee for State Security (KGB) agents arrested 20 people in Po\u0142ack and Navapo\u0142ack, Viciebsk region, sources told Pozirk. They may have been in contact with Siarhiej [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-54866","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=\"December 12, Pozirk. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between December 9 and 11 as authorities kept harassing","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\/54866\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"December 12, Pozirk. 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