Front Line Defenders: Belarusian authorities abuse judicial system to persecute rights activists

April 5, BPN. In its annual report on the persecution of human rights defenders around the world, published on April 4, the Front Line Defenders rights group highlighted arrests, defamation, and pressure on the human rights community by the Belarusian authorities.

The group stressed that the authorities “targeted and criminalized human rights defenders, primarily through abusing the judicial system to pursue repeated arrests, detentions and trumped-up charges against them.”

It cited the trial of the Viasna Human Rights Center’s leaders, “marred by multiple violations of human rights and fair trial standards,” and the trial of human rights defender Marfa Rabkova, sentenced “after two years of being held in deplorable conditions in pre-trial detention.”

Front Line Defenders said human rights defender Nasta Łojka “faced continuous retaliation for her work,” was sentenced to 15 days in jail six times between September and December, and was transferred to a detention center on December 24 to face various criminal charges. “She reported being subjected to torture and inhuman treatment during her administrative detention,” the group said.

Separately, the organization posted on its website a demand for the Belarusian authorities to stop persecuting and mistreating Łojka. The human rights group called for her immediate release. The demand was signed by Article 19, Front Line Defenders, Human Constanta, Human Rights Watch, International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), Redress, and the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT).