{"id":146693,"date":"2025-07-14T16:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-14T13:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146693\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"viasna-leadership-arrest-has-not-stopped-human-rights-defense-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/146693\/","title":{"rendered":"Viasna leadership arrest has not stopped human rights defense \u2013 lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\n A demonstration of solidarity with Viasna in Vilnius\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Pozirk)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

July 14, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> More than 20 people have gathered in central Vilnius in a show of solidarity with jailed Belarusian human rights activists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rally marks the fourth anniversary of the arrest of Ale\u015b Bialacki, head of the Viasna Human Rights Center; Valancin Stefanovi\u010d, Bialacki\u2019s deputy who is also vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights; and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d, coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A member of Viasna\u2019s provisional board, lawyer Pavie\u0142 Sapie\u0142ka, told reporters that four years ago, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s regime took his fellow human rights activists \u201chostage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cToday, this is our reason to recall that four members of the Viasna Human Rights Center are behind bars, including Marfa Rabkova, who was detained even earlier and has been in prison for nearly five years,\u201d Sapie\u0142ka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked by Pozirk <\/em>how the imprisonment of Viasna\u2019s leadership affected the Belarusian human rights movement, the lawyer said, \u201cAt that time, it was a very painful blow to Viasna, the consequences of which are difficult to overestimate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur colleagues and friends are now in prisons. Their families are waiting for their fathers and husbands. The regime has managed to take revenge on our colleagues for their human rights activism, constant public work, recognition, and defense of human rights in Belarus. But if the authorities dealt that blow to stop human rights defenders from supporting people, then they have not succeeded,\u201d Sapie\u0142ka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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