Sweden’s Belarusian community activist gets five years for donations

January 13, Pozirk. Halina Krasnianskaja, a 67-year-old Belarusian woman living in Sweden, was sentenced in Minsk to five years in prison, the Biełarusy u Švecyi group said.

The judge found her guilty of participating in an armed conflict abroad for alleged donations to Belarusian volunteers fighting alongside the Ukrainian forces, said the Viasna Human Rights Center.

“We are outraged by the unfair sentence against Halina,” the Biełarusy u Švecyi group said in a statement, describing her as a person who actively participated in diaspora activities and promoted Belarusian culture in Sweden. “Halina is a devoted, sincere Belarusian, who has kept a strong connection with the Belarusian culture through the years. We will continue to support Halina and her family.”

Human rights defenders assume that the verdict against Krasnianskaja was passed on January 12 in Minsk.

Krasnianskaja was said to be arrested in spring 2023 during a visit to Belarus.

Earlier reports said that she lived in Sweden permanently but kept visiting Belarus. She may have been arrested in the spring of 2023.