{"id":61353,"date":"2024-01-16T19:41:01","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T16:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=61353"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"singer-arrested-for-ukrainian-song-flees-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/","title":{"rendered":"Singer flees Belarus after arrest for Ukrainian song"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"block-image block-image-normal\">\n\n  <img decoding=\"async\" width=\"924\" height=\"616\" src=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras.jpg\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras.jpg 924w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras-354x236.jpg 354w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras-734x490.jpg 734w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras-178x118.jpg 178w, https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 924px) 100vw, 924px\" \/>\n  <figcaption>\n  \n       <div class=\"block-image__author\">\n                <span>(Onliner)<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n     <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>January 16, <em>Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Singer Meryjem Hierasimienka has fled Belarus and is now safe, BySol Foundation head Andrej Stry\u017eak said on Telegram this afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At about the same time, the singer went on Instagram to praise freedom as her highest value. &#8220;The freedom of movement, the freedom of thought, the freedom to do what you love and are passionate about. Freedom is the most important thing for me. I woke up happy today,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hierasimienka thanked the foundation for helping her to flee the country, adding that her &#8220;bright path&#8221; continues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In January 2023, a district court in Minsk sentenced her to three years of restricted freedom, a form of home confinement. She was charged with disorderly conduct. Human rights activists recognized her as a political prisoner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In August 2022, Hierasimienka had a gig on the terrace of the Banki-Butylki bar in Minsk, during which she electrified the crowd with songs by Ukrainian rock band Okean Elzy. Fans shared videos from the concert on social media, accompanying them with stickers in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. After the gig, the singer went silent on social networks, and no one answered the phone at her studio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pro-government Telegram channels later reported that she was arrested for donating to a campaign to buy Ukraine a Bayraktar combat drone for Ukrainian forces. She served two consecutive 15-day jail sentences before being charged with disorderly conduct.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>January 16, Pozirk. Singer Meryjem Hierasimienka has fled Belarus and is now safe, BySol Foundation head Andrej Stry\u017eak said on Telegram this afternoon. At about the same time, the singer went on Instagram to praise freedom as her highest value. &#8220;The freedom of movement, the freedom of thought, the freedom to do what you love [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":61340,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-61353","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","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>Singer flees Belarus after arrest for Ukrainian song | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"January 16, Pozirk. Singer Meryjem Hierasimienka has fled Belarus and is now safe, BySol Foundation head Andrej Stry\u017eak said on Telegram this afternoon.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Singer flees Belarus after arrest for Ukrainian song | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 16, Pozirk. Singer Meryjem Hierasimienka has fled Belarus and is now safe, BySol Foundation head Andrej Stry\u017eak said on Telegram this afternoon.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"924\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"616\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/\"},\"headline\":\"Singer flees Belarus after arrest for Ukrainian song\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T16:41:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/\"},\"wordCount\":239,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/\",\"name\":\"Singer flees Belarus after arrest for Ukrainian song | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61353\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/geras.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T16:41:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:40:57+00:00\",\"description\":\"January 16, Pozirk. 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