Belarusian rights activists meet Finnish foreign minister

September 7, BPN. Members of the Belarusian human rights community have met with Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

The activists informed Haavisto of the human rights situation in Belarus, the state of society and attitudes to the war in Ukraine. They noted that the extent of intimidation and torture used by the authorities against civilians remains high. The number of political prisoners is on the rise, and seven Viasna members, including its head Aleś Bialacki, remain behind bars. Particular attention was paid to yesterday’s harsh sentence to Viasna’s coordinator Marfa Rabkova and volunteer Andrej Čapiuk, 15 and six years in prison, respectively.

Viasna lawyer Pavieł Sapiełka said: “This meeting is an important evidence that the Belarusian agenda – the situation in the country, the state of civil society organizations and the degree of the human rights crisis – remains high in democratic countries, despite the objective situation that has developed after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the crisis it has caused.”