March 24, Pozirk. The BySol Solidarity Fund has launched a fundraiser for opposition activist Antanina Kanavałava, who fled Belarus after spending more than four years behind bars on charges widely seen as politically motivated.
In mid-December 2024, Kanavałava was released under a pardon program, according to the Viasna Human Rights Center. She was diagnosed with visual impairment due to harsh conditions in the Belarusian prison.
The fundraiser should cover the costs of necessities, including a smartphone and a laptop that the woman needs to communicate with doctors, find a job and stay in touch with her loved ones, BySol said.
Kanavałava was arrested in September 2020 and later given five and a half years in prison on rioting charges. She was persecuted for running an opposition Telegram channel. Authorities blacklisted her as a terrorist and an extremist.
Her husband Siarhiej Jaraševič was sentenced to the same term and was later given nine more months in prison on disobedience charges routinely used in Belarus to keep regime critics behind bars longer. The couple has two minor children, who have been staying with their grandmother in Poland.
Earlier this month, Kanavałava reunited with her exiled family.
