{"id":61420,"date":"2024-01-17T11:57:19","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T08:57:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&p=61420"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-113","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

January 17, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters and their online activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police arrested Vital Kor\u0161un in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, a pro-government source said. Authorities did not disclose the charges but he may face up to 12 years in prison “for calls of a terrorist nature.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 30, authorities released Dzianis Chaziej, 20, after he had served three years in a penal colony for participating in a protest rally, the Brest branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Police arrested him in the spring of 2021 when he was 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A judge in Pastavy, Viciebsk region, convicted Alena Barsuk, 62, for sharing opposition content, the Vitebsk, Ya Gulayu! Novosti Vitebska<\/em> Telegram channel reported. On January 12, the content of her Odnoklassniki account was branded “extremist.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On December 21, a judge in Dok\u0161ycy, Viciebsk region, sentenced Siarhiej Karapana\u016d and Siarhiej Salanka to 40 hours of community service for sharing opposition content on Odnoklassniki, the same Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arciom Kaby\u0142ko\u016d from Mika\u0142ajeva in the Viciebsk region was fined 555 rubels (about $176), the Viciebsk branch of Viasna said. He was persecuted for reposting opposition content and sharing a picture of himself wearing a t-shirt with the Pahonia coat of arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 63-year-old man was given one year in prison in Lida, Hrodna region, for allegedly insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka while talking with police officers on the phone, Mediazona.Belarus<\/em> reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In mid-December, a judge in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, sentenced furniture factory worker Ja\u016dhien Pa\u0161ukievi\u010d to four years of restricted freedom in home confinement for a reaction to a social media post that allegedly slandered \u0141uka\u0161enka, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Minsk, D\u017amitryj \u010cuchno\u016d and Ivan Stankievi\u010d were given two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement in late December on protest-related charges, Viasna said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 11, I\u0142ona To\u016d\u015bcik went on trial in Minsk on charges of inciting hatred, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IT engineer Pavie\u0142 Kabierda went on trial in Hrodna on January 15, according to Viasna. Law enforcers persecute him for donations to opposition initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trial of photographer and journalist Alaksandar Vasiukovi\u010d accused of gross violations of public order will open in Minsk on January 18, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alaksandar Struhalski, chief engineer at the Homiel-based milk manufacturer Milkavita, will go on trial on January 25 for donations to the BySol Foundation, Viasna’s Homiel branch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Belarusian judge ruled to transfer Ryhor Kastusio\u016d, leader of the outlawed Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), from a penal colony to a prison, the politician\u2019s son-in-law D\u017amitryj Anton\u010dyk said on Facebook. Kastusio\u016d is serving a 10-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Singer Meryjem Hierasimienka fled Belarus and is now safe, BySol Foundation head Andrej Stry\u017eak said on Telegram. A year ago, she was given three years of restricted freedom in home confinement for performing a Ukrainian song in one of central Minsk’s bars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bar owner Andrej \u017duk and his wife Maria also left Belarus and are staying in Warsaw, \u017duk said on Instagram. Both were given two and a half years of restricted freedom on protest-related charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Extremist” content update<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On January 12, a judge in Baranavi\u010dy branded artist U\u0142adzis\u0142a\u016d Bochan\u2019s Telegram channel with 1,060 followers extremist content, the information ministry said.  Belarusian judges also blacklisted posts by the ShOS<\/em> Telegram chat, BG.Media<\/em>‘s Facebook page and the karina.jp<\/em> Instagram account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 17, human rights defenders identified at least 1,408 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":"

January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters and their online activities. Arrested and released Police arrested Vital Kor\u0161un in Baranavi\u010dy, Brest region, a pro-government source said. Authorities did not disclose the charges but he may face up to 12 years in prison […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-61420","articles","type-articles","status-publish","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nUpdate on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters\" \/>\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\/61420\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/\" \/>\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=\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\" \/>\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=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/\"},\"headline\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-17T08:57:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/\"},\"wordCount\":621,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/\",\"name\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-17T08:57:19+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","description":"January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters","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\/61420\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/"},"headline":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution","datePublished":"2024-01-17T08:57:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/"},"wordCount":621,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/","name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2024-01-17T08:57:19+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","description":"January 17, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 16 with unabated reprisals targeting dissenters","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61420\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles\/61420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/articles"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/articles"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=61420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}