Cichanoŭskaja: mass arrests in Belarus are humanitarian disaster

December 7, BPN. Belarusian opposition leader Sviatłana Cichanoŭsklaja described mass arrests of dissenters in Belarus as a humanitarian disaster at her December 6 meeting with diplomats in Stockholm.

She met with the heads of diplomatic missions of Australia, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Germany, France, Italy, Macedonia, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland, the UK, Uruguay, the USA, and other countries, her foreign policy adviser Franak Viačorka told BPN.

Belarusian authorities arrested more than 350 people in November alone, Cichanoŭsklaja stressed. She urged foreign diplomats for assistance in facilitating access to political prisoners and to investigating the crimes of Alaksandr Łukašenka’s regime.

The opposition leader also discussed support for Belarusian civil society with Johan Forssell, Sweden’s minister for international development cooperation and foreign trade. She stressed that the families of political prisoners and victims of the politically-motivated crackdown should receive funds that were channeled to authorities before aid freeze in 2020.