{"id":69851,"date":"2024-02-27T12:27:40","date_gmt":"2024-02-27T09:27:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/69851\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-134","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/69851\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>February 27, <em>Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between February 24 and 26 as authorities harassed dissenters and voters during the parliamentary and local elections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested several employees of Legion-104, a company servicing public display screens, hacked by an opposition group on February 24, a pro-government Telegram channel said. All arrested were reportedly accused of participating in 2020 postelection protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hrodna busker Alaksiej Pietryk is under arrest for performing a protest song popular in 2020, <em>Mediazona<\/em> reported. Authorities accuse him of &#8220;spreading extremism.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>About 40 architects along with their family members have been arrested in Minsk since February 14, <em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported. The total number of arrested may reach 70, some of them were released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mahilo\u016d police arrested ceramic artist Alena Karpienka for filming at the polling station, <em>Na\u0161a Niva<\/em> reported. A pro-government source said she tried to enter the polling station after it was closed, filmed it and shared the video with the opposition media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Police arrested a wanted man at the polling station in Homiel, a pro-government Telegram channel said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the Homiel region, police drew up a report against a man who took a picture of his ballot, according to a pro-government source.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Alaksandar Hurd\u017eyje\u016d from Mahilo\u016d is under arrest on charges of insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka on Odnoklassniki, <em>Mediazona <\/em>reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Juryj Avierka\u016d was arrested in Kira\u016dsk, Mahilo\u016d region, on suspicion of being linked to a local protest initiative, MAYDAY.TEAM reported. He allegedly administered a local opposition Telegram channel and signed up for the opposition Pieramoha Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities released U\u0142adzimir Harbaviec after he had served two years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility for participating in 2020 protests, the Brest branch of the Viasna Human Rights Center said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On February 20, several people were arrested during a police raid and given jail terms for sharing opposition content, MAYDAY.TEAM said. Authorities said they ran chats that shared information about the Mahilo\u016d region&#8217;s prisons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The wife of Arciom La\u0161nie\u016dski, serving two and a half years of restricted freedom in an open-type correctional facility for allegedly insulting a road police officer, was fined for receiving aid for buying groceries, the Viciebsk branch of Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities convicted at least nine people on February 26 of alleged minor offences linked to politically-motivated cases, Viasna&#8217;s Homiel branch said. The sentences are unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dzijana Zavadskaja, 34, went on trial in Brest on charges of gross violations of public order and participating in an armed conflict abroad, Viasna reported. The judge closed the proceedings to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In late December, fitness trainer Alaksandar Jakuta was given two and a half years of restricted freedom in home confinement for participating in 2020 protests, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Vadzim Pacenka and Russian national Aleksei Kulikov went on trial in Hrodna on five criminal charges, including terrorism and high treason, Viasna reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On February 16, a judge in Minsk sentenced singer Ja\u016dhien \u0160uma to three years of restricted freedom in home confinement on protest-related charges, Viasna said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Extremist&#8221; list update<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Committee for State Security (KGB) blacklisted Bie\u0142arus 2.0 Siarhiej Bulba and VIRUS SVOBODY online communities and their social media as \u201cextremist\u201d groups. The extremist designation also covers Siarhiej Bulba, Ja\u016dhien Kazakievi\u010d, Vital Kandracienka and Piotr \u0141ysak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of February 27, human rights defenders identified at least 1,413 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>February 27, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus between February 24 and 26 as authorities harassed dissenters and voters during the parliamentary and local elections. Arrested and released Police arrested several employees of Legion-104, a company servicing public display screens, hacked by an opposition group on February 24, a pro-government Telegram [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":63993,"template":"","rubric":[16,15],"class_list":["post-69851","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics","rubric-society"],"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=\"February 27, Pozirk. 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