{"id":91728,"date":"2024-06-20T11:54:05","date_gmt":"2024-06-20T08:54:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/91728\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T12:05:06","slug":"update-on-arrests-trials-politically-motivated-persecution-179","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/91728\/","title":{"rendered":"Reprisals: Nine employees arrested for sharing banned content"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

June 20, Pozirk<\/em>.<\/strong> In new instances of politically-motivated persecution documented in Belarus on June 19, authorities imposed severe punishment on Belarusians for disrespecting state symbols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A judge in Hrodna sentenced Darja Zajac and Valeryja Drahun to one year in prison each for an attempt to set fire to a state flag at an office building, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A 35-year-old man from the Minsk district may face criminal charges for tearing down a state flag from a store building, a pro-government source said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arrests and trials<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Police arrested a Yandex.Delivery employee and a Minsk man known as Aleh A\u016dhustus on VKontakte for participating in 2020 postelection protests, pro-government sources said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mediazona.Belarus<\/em> reported the names of seven out of nine employees of the HAVER BY wire weaving factory in Lida, Hrodna region, arrested on June 17: Hanna Mura\u0161ka, Ja\u016dhien A\u0161urak, Arciom Struka\u016d, Vadzim Kachnovi\u010d, Arciom \u0160\u010debieta, Siarhiej \u0160arapa\u016d and Michai\u0142 Kuchar\u010dyk. In a police video, they admitted to following or sharing opposition content.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bie\u0142telekam engineer Alaksiej Lucki was jailed for 15 days in August 2023 for following opposition content on social media, a state-run TV channel reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other cases<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavie\u0142 Sava, Halina Dzerby\u0161 and Mika\u0142aj A\u016dtuchovi\u010d, sentenced to lengthy prison terms in a high-profile politically-motivated case, were ordered to pay a total of 40,200 rubels (about $12,720) to cover alleged damage to police officers’ property.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prison authorities prohibit inmates from talking to jailed opposition politician Maryja Kale\u015bnikava, a former political prisoner told Viasna. Guards reportedly accompany her everywhere, even in the bathroom, and have recruited other inmates to spy on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New political prisoners<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rights groups declared 15 more people as political prisoners, according to Viasna. New additions include Alaksiej Navahrodski, Ja\u016dhien Hurynovi\u010d, Ja\u016dhien Blachinski, Andrej Kobiel, Dzianis \u017dalazka, Anatol Kirej\u010dyk, Artur Radzivanovi\u010d, Andrej \u0160u\u0142hana\u016d, Eduard Ka\u0161ecian, U\u0142adzimir Alisievi\u010d, Andrej Va\u0142achanovi\u010d, Jahor Ibrahima\u016d and D\u017amitryj Ku\u0161alevi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elena Ramanauskien\u0117, who has Belarusian and Lithuanian citizenship, and Polish national Tomasz Bieroza are also on the list. Both are serving prison terms in Belarus on espionage charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of June 20, human rights defenders identified at least 1,411 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\n\n\n

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