{"id":70350,"date":"2024-02-29T12:02:56","date_gmt":"2024-02-29T09:02:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/70350\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-136","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/70350\/","title":{"rendered":"Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>February 29, Pozirk.<\/strong> New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 28 as authorities kept harassing dissenters for participation in 2020 postelection protests and online activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Arrested and released<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Minsk police arrested doctor Rus\u0142an Badam\u0161yn, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Since August 2020, he has been arrested five times and spent 63 days in custody. In 2021, he was fired from the national neurosurgery center because of being late for work on the day of his release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A man from S\u0142uck, Minsk region, is under arrest for donations to the <em>Nexta <\/em>media project, pro-government Telegram channels said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Law enforcers arrested two Hrodna men for participating in 2020 protests and critical comments that they allegedly posted online, pro-government Telegram channels reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A Mahilo\u016d man was arrested for signing up for the opposition Pieramoha Plan, pro-government sources said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ihar Sarokin was arrested as he was crossing the Polish-Belarusian border, <em>Mediazona <\/em>reported. In a police video, he admitted to participating in a 2020 protest rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pro-Russian activist Elvira Mirsalimava went on trial in Viciebsk on charges of breaking regulations governing mass events and promoting Nazi symbols, the <em>Vitebsk, Ya Gulayu!<\/em> telegram channel said. The verdict is unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Hrodna region&#8217;s judges tried at least four people for sharing opposition content, the <em>Pravo Imeyut<\/em> initiative reported. The verdicts remain unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities released Pavie\u0142 Piasko\u016d after he had served four years and three months in prison, Viasna reported. He was the first Belarusian protester given a lengthy prison sentence after the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New criminal charges<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Homiel law enforcers raided the apartment of exiled psychologist A\u0142a Marcinovi\u010d, <em>Flagshtok<\/em> reported. Authorities accuse her of forming an extremist group. She may be targeted for openly opposing Russia&#8217;s war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A 35-year-old man in Smarho\u0144, Hrodna region, faces the charge of abusing state symbols for tearing down a state flag from a store building, pro-government Telegram channels said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Authorities accuse trade unionist Volha Brycikava of inciting hatred, Viasna reported. She has been in custody since August and was initially charged with calling for sanctions. Her trial is scheduled for March 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Criminal proceedings<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Volha Majorava will go on trial in Homiel on March 5 on charges of disobeying the prison administration, Viasna&#8217;s Homiel branch said. The woman is serving a 20-year term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photographer Ivan Padlipianca\u016d will go on trial in Hrodna on March 11 on charges of insulting Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka and public officials, setting up an extremist group and inciting hatred, according to the court electronic schedule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Siarhiej Ha\u0142acevi\u010d and Vasil Marecki are on trial in the Viciebsk region on charges of insulting \u0141uka\u0161enka, the court electronic schedule and <em>Vitebsk, Ya Gulayu!<\/em> said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other instances of persecution<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Human rights defenders declared 22 people, who were not considered political prisoners when serving their sentences, as former political prisoners, taking their total to 243, Viasna said. Rights defenders corrected the initial figure of 23 reported earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A judge in Va\u016dkavysk, Hrodna region, ruled on changing detention conditions for Andrej Okunie\u016d, jailed in a politically-motivated case on charges of desecrating historical heritage, <em>Pravo Imeyut<\/em> reported. The ruling is unknown.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Belarusian foreign ministry rejected the European Union\u2019s concerns about the ill-treatment of political prisoners as \u201cunfounded accusations\u201d and threatened criminal charges for those who promote and support sanctions against Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As of February 29, human rights defenders identified at least 1,403 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 29, Pozirk. New cases of politically-motivated persecution were documented in Belarus on February 28 as authorities kept harassing dissenters for participation in 2020 postelection protests and online activities. Arrested and released Minsk police arrested doctor Rus\u0142an Badam\u0161yn, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported. Since August 2020, he has been arrested five times and spent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":70309,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-70350","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>Update on arrests, trials, politically-motivated persecution | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"February 29, Pozirk. 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