Women’s rights activist flees Belarus

August 31, BPN. Volha Harbunova, former head of Radzisłava, an association helping domestic violence victims, has left Belarus, the activist’s Facebook page says.

Harbunova was arrested in November 2021 on suspicion of organizing women’s marches against alleged fraud in the 2020 presidential election and violence against protesters.

Harbunova denied participating in “mass riots” in a police video posted in one of the pro-government Telegram channels. Human rights defenders declared her a political prisoner. Her trial started on May 5.

A court in Minsk sentenced Harbunova to three years of restricted freedom without referral to a correctional facility for violating public order and organizing riots.

She was released in the courtroom to serve the sentence at home, where she has to be present during non-working hours. This type of sentence also implies that people and are required to retain or seek employment, while police can visit them anytime to make sure they comply with the terms of confinement.