Dissident doctor leaves Belarus
August 6, Pozirk. Uładzimir Martaŭ, an intensive care doctor who faced politically-motivated persecution in Belarus, managed to leave the country for Lithuania, Andrej Stryžak of the BySol solidarity foundation has said on Telegram.
The outspoken critic of the Belarusian health care system was arrested in the Russian city of Murino on May 14 and transferred to Belarus, where he was held in a detention cell in Viciebsk.
Belarusian authorities reportedly ordered the arrest as a preventive measure, but the reasons are unknown.
Martaŭ had worked at the Viciebsk Emergency Hospital since 2003, where he headed the Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Department for five years.
He criticized the government’s handling of COVID-19, including disruptions in the supply of oxygen to the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Martaŭ linked the disruptions to the deaths of several patients at the end of 2020.
He was fired in early April 2021, following Alaksandar Łukašenka’s remark that he “should be put in his place.”
Martaŭ abandoned his healthcare career and adopted an active civic stance on social media, denouncing violence by the authoritarian government.
He left Belarus more than two years ago after serving a week in jail for displaying the banned white-red-white flag on his social media profile picture.
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