{"id":56985,"date":"2023-12-22T12:02:57","date_gmt":"2023-12-22T09:02:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=56985"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-97","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/56985\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>December 22, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 21 with more harassment and criminal charges directed against dissenters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hrodna police arrested two construction company employees for allegedly sharing opposition content, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New criminal charges<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hanna Stra\u017eevi\u010d, arrested on December 18 in Salihorsk, Minsk region, remains in custody and may face criminal charges of insulting Alaksandar Luka\u0161enka and a police officer, opposition activist Pavie\u0142 Batuje\u016d said on Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trails<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar Mura\u016dlo\u016d was tried in Hrodna for allegedly sharing opposition content, a Telegram channel monitoring politically-motivated persecution in Hrodna and the Hrodna region reported. The verdict is unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On December 6, a judge in Viciebsk sentenced Siarhiej Zajca\u016d to 18 months in prison and a fine of 3,700 rubels (about $1,160) on charges of insulting a public official, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Extremist&#8221; content update<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities branded the <em>WARTA &#8211; Bie\u0142aruskaje Nacyjanalnaje Medyja<\/em> project&#8217;s website, social media and logo as extremist content, Viasna reported. <em>Vektor_brest<\/em> on Instagram, <em>Vektor Nashego Goroda<\/em> on Odnoklassniki, <em>Mitingi Belarusi<\/em> on TikTok and <em>Gorod 016<\/em> on Facebook are also among the blacklisted content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This fall, Belarusian authorities released from prison Russian national Anton Lysov and extradited him to Russia after he agreed to join Russia\u2019s war against Ukraine, Dissidentby reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting January 1, inmates held at Penal Colony No 22 in Ivacevi\u010dy, Brest region, will be allowed to make video calls only as a reward, while hours for regular calls will be limited, Viasna said. At least 63 people whom human rights groups consider political prisoners are serving their terms in Ivacevi\u010dy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This month, Belarusian courts closed down at least 11 associations, Lawtrend said. At least three more closure suits are expected to be heard in December. As of late November, 949 NGOs were in the process of forced liquidation while 532 filed for closure on their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Inmates of \u017dodzina&#8217;s Prison No 8 in the Minsk region are now forbidden to receive printed texts, pens and stickers in their correspondence, says a letter by jailed journalist Dzianis Iva\u0161yn. Haradzienskaja Pravaabarona reports that a similar rule applies in penal colonies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The interior ministry&#8217;s organized crime unit raided Polskipro, a Polish-language school in Minsk, pro-government Telegram channels said. The school&#8217;s website and social media are down and its management may be under arrest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New political prisoners<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Belarusian human rights organizations declared six more people political prisoners, Viasna said. Most of them were convicted on extremism-related charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of December 22, human rights defenders identified at least 1,483 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 22, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on December 21 with more harassment and criminal charges directed against dissenters. Arrests Hrodna police arrested two construction company employees for allegedly sharing opposition content, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. New criminal charges Hanna Stra\u017eevi\u010d, arrested on December 18 in Salihorsk, Minsk [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-56985","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 22, Pozirk. 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