{"id":88167,"date":"2024-05-31T12:42:24","date_gmt":"2024-05-31T09:42:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T20:10:49","slug":"defendants-dismiss-political-trial-as-unfair","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/","title":{"rendered":"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (Yandex Maps)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 31, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those living abroad and evading contact with investigators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belarusian authorities ignore official requests to provide information on the criminal charges and violate the right to fair defense, 14 out of 20 defendants said in a statement released ahead of trial in absentia scheduled to open today in Minsk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The defendants pointed out that the state failed to guarantee their right to fair defense in the criminal trial, noting that some of them do not even know the names of their attorneys provided by the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investigators claimed that all defendants are linked to \u015aviat\u0142ana Cichano\u016dskaja, a former opposition presidential candidate forced into exile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The charges against them range from inciting hatred and calling for sanctions to creating an extremist group and plotting to seize power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The accusations represent a continuing attack on the independent analytical, expert and journalistic community, the statement stressed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Defendants include Cichano\u016dskaja\u2019s senior political aide Alaksandar Dabravolski, spokeswoman Hanna Krasulina, special representative for elections Alaksandar \u0160\u0142yk, aide Dzianis Ku\u010dynski, as well as journalists Juryj Drakachrust of RFE\/RL<\/em> and Hanna Lubakova, a former RFE\/RL<\/em> and Belsat TV<\/em> reporter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ryhor Astapenia, director of the Belarusian Initiative at Chatham House; Andrej Kazakievi\u010d of the Political Sphere Institute; Alaksandar \u0141ahviniec of Free Belarusian University; sociologist Filip Bikana\u016d; researchers Veranika \u0141apu\u0107ka and Ta\u0107ciana \u010culickaja; political scientists Maryja Rohava, Alesia Rudnik, Kaciaryna \u0160macina, Piotra Rudko\u016dski and Pavie\u0142 Vusa\u016d are among the accused. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list also includes Ja\u016dhien Kry\u017eano\u016dski, Vasil Navuma\u016d and SYMPA\/BIPART expert Natalla Rabava.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also read: \u201cCichano\u016dskaja\u2019s think-tankers\u201d to be tried by Minsk Regional Court<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those living abroad and evading contact with investigators. Belarusian authorities ignore official requests to provide information on the criminal charges and violate the right to fair defense, 14 out of 20 defendants said in a statement […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":82847,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-88167","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDefendants dismiss political trial as unfair | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those\" \/>\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\/88167\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/\" \/>\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 property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1128\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"752\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\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=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/\"},\"headline\":\"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-31T09:42:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/\"},\"wordCount\":292,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/\",\"name\":\"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-05-31T09:42:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00\",\"description\":\"May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg\",\"width\":1128,\"height\":752},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair\"}]},{\"@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":"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair | Pozirk","description":"May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those","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\/88167\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair | Pozirk","og_description":"May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1128,"height":752,"url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/"},"headline":"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair","datePublished":"2024-05-31T09:42:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/"},"wordCount":292,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/","name":"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg","datePublished":"2024-05-31T09:42:24+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-09T20:10:49+00:00","description":"May 31, Pozirk. Prominent exiled political experts and journalists pointed out numerous violations in criminal special proceedings that target those","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/minoblsud_yandexmaps_1128x752.jpg","width":1128,"height":752},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/88167\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Defendants dismiss political trial as unfair"}]},{"@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\/88167","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:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=88167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}