{"id":69099,"date":"2024-02-23T12:35:47","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T09:35:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/?post_type=articles&#038;p=69099"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"political-reprisals-ex-leader-of-ucp-may-face-criminal-charges","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/69099\/","title":{"rendered":"Political reprisals: ex-leader of UCP may face criminal charges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>February 23,&nbsp;<em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong>&nbsp;New instances of political harassment were reported in Belarus on February 22 with security officers\u2019 intimidating presence at the funeral for a political prisoner and possible criminal persecution of a former United Civic Party (UCP) leader making headlines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vasil Palako\u016d, ex-chairman of the UCP, was not released after serving two consecutive 15-day jail terms for alleged minor offenses, the Homiel branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center reported, noting that the politician may face criminal charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksej Ramana\u016d, a former political prisoner detained on January 23, also remains in custody after serving two consecutive 15-day jail terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About 10 people braved fear to attend the funeral for social democratic activist Ihar Lednik in Barysa\u016d as the ceremony was closely watched by security services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPeople are so intimidated that even his party mates did not take the risk because of the threat [of arrest],\u201d a source close to Lednik told&nbsp;<em>Pozirk<\/em>&nbsp;speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Security officers observed the ceremony from a vehicle with red license plates, the source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrests<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police brutally arrested a man in Lida and a man in S\u0142onim, Hrodna region, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Fine<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A district judge in Bie\u0161ankovi\u010dy, Viciebsk region, on January 31 fined volleyball coach Mika\u0142aj Pu\u0161nika\u016d 1,200 rubels ($375) for subscriptions to banned media outlets, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal trial<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A district judge in Minsk on January 25 sentenced Hanna \u010cerkas, a manager, and Alaksandra \u0160ydlo\u016dskaja, a sole proprietor, to two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement for taking part in the 2020 postelection protests. Stanis\u0142a\u016d Siamienia was given the same sentence on February 2, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Russia has put Via\u010des\u0142a\u016d Barok and Andrej Va\u0161\u010duk, priests from the Viciebsk region, on its list of wanted criminals, the Viciebsk Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Late on February 22, rights groups had information on 1,420 political prisoners but the real number is considerably higher because many cases go undocumented. Opposition sources estimate the number at around 5,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>February 23,&nbsp;Pozirk.&nbsp;New instances of political harassment were reported in Belarus on February 22 with security officers\u2019 intimidating presence at the funeral for a political prisoner and possible criminal persecution of a former United Civic Party (UCP) leader making headlines. Vasil Palako\u016d, ex-chairman of the UCP, was not released after serving two consecutive 15-day jail terms [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[14],"class_list":["post-69099","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>Political reprisals: ex-leader of UCP may face criminal charges | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 23,&nbsp;Pozirk.&nbsp;New instances of political harassment were reported in Belarus on February 22 with security officers\u2019 intimidating presence\" \/>\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\/69099\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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