{"id":61663,"date":"2024-01-18T11:55:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T08:55:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=61663"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-114","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/61663\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>January 18, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 17 with more dissenters and jailed activists being harassed by authorities.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested Arciom Antona\u016d, son of writer Siarhiej Antona\u016d, in Bycha\u016d, Mahilo\u016d region, accusing him of insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, MAYDAYMog said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar Lu\u010dynovi\u010d is free after serving two years in prison for sharing a picture of Russian military equipment with an opposition initiative, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>D\u017amitryj Harelik, head of Homiel&#8217;s puppet theatre, was tried for sharing opposition content, the Homiel branch of Viasna said. The verdict is unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Via\u010das\u0142a\u016d Jelisiejenka from the Dok\u0161ycy district in the Viciebsk region was sentenced to 40 hours of community service for posting links to opposition content that authorities deem extremist on his Odnoklassniki page, Viasna\u2019s Viciebsk branch said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In late December, Minsk judges sentenced U\u0142adzis\u0142a\u016d Bandarenka and Marharyta Jermalickaja to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement each for participating in a 2020 postelection protests, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar Fiedaruk was tried in Brest on charges of insulting a public official but the verdict is unknown, the Brest branch of Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police released a video featuring the arrested Nizkiz band members. Musicians admitted to participating in protests and performing for protesters, including for the Warsaw-based <em>Belsat TV<\/em> channel branded extremist in Belarus, according to the video posted on a Telegram channel linked to the police. Singer Alaksandar Illin, bass guitarist Siarhiej Kul\u0161a and drummer D\u017amitryj Chala\u016dkin were arrested on January 6.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Viasna complained to the UN rapporteurs about the deteriorating prison conditions of Ryhor Kastusio\u016d, leader of the outlawed Belarusian Popular Front. Human rights defenders asked the UN to inquire about the politician&#8217;s health and urge Belarusian authorities to provide him with adequate treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>D\u017amitryj Kanapielka, serving a five-year prison term on charges widely seen as politically motivated, was transferred from a penal colony in the Mahilo\u016d region to the Ivacevi\u010dy penal colony in the Brest region, Viasna said. The reasons remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Political prisoner status update<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Belarusian human rights groups designated 14 people as former political prisoners, according to Viasna. The organization was unaware of their politically-motivated persecution when they were serving sentences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of January 18, human rights defenders identified at least 1,409 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>January 18, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 17 with more dissenters and jailed activists being harassed by authorities.&nbsp; Arrested and released Police arrested Arciom Antona\u016d, son of writer Siarhiej Antona\u016d, in Bycha\u016d, Mahilo\u016d region, accusing him of insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, MAYDAYMog said. Alaksandar Lu\u010dynovi\u010d is free after serving [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-61663","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=\"January 18, Pozirk. 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New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on January 17 with more dissenters and jailed activists","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\/61663\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk","og_description":"January 18, Pozirk. 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