Christian advocacy group asks Pope Francis to help free Darja Łosik

January 21, BPN. The Chryścijanskaja Vizija advocacy group has issued a statement in support of Ihar and Darja Łosik who are behind bars on charges widely seen as politically motivated.

Ihar Łosik is a Roman Catholic believer, the group noted. In August 2021, he wrote a letter to Pope Francis, telling the pontiff the story of his hunger strike in prison but has not received any response, Chryścijanskaja Vizija said.

“We consider Ihar and Darja Łosik to be the conscience of the Belarusian people in their uncompromising commitment to the truth and protection of human rights and dignity amid the crackdown on civil society and dictatorship in Belarus,” the statement reads. “We urge the authorities to at least replace Darja Łosik’s criminal sentence with a non-custodial one.”

The group also urged Pope Francis to facilitate her release so that she can return to her daughter as soon as possible.

On January 19, the Brest Regional Court sentenced Darja to two years in prison on charges of promoting extremism. Authorities accused her of giving an interview to Belsat TV, a television channel declared extremist, “in which she positioned herself as a political prisoner’s wife.” She has been in custody since October 2022.

Her husband, RFE/RL contributor and blogger Ihar Łosik, is serving 15 years in prison for alleged incitement to hatred and mass riots. Human rights defenders say that his persecution is politically motivated.

The couple has a four-year-old daughter.