{"id":198253,"date":"2026-08-02T15:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T12:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198253\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T15:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T12:13:14","slug":"tbilisi-claims-belarusian-activist-poses-greater-danger-to-georgia-than-he-faces-in-belarus","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/198253\/","title":{"rendered":"Tbilisi claims Belarusian activist poses greater danger to Georgia than he faces in Belarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

August 2, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> The Georgian government has asked the UN Human Rights Committee to reject an appeal by Belarusian human rights activist Raman Ki\u015blak against the denial of his asylum application.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tbilisi claims that the activist poses a threat to Georgia’s security but has not specified how, saying its conclusions are based on “secret information.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also argues that the alleged security risks outweigh the danger of criminal prosecution Ki\u015blak is likely to face if he returns to Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If deported, Ki\u015blak would face charges of terrorism, high treason and conspiracy to seize power in connection with his human rights activities. The maximum penalty for these charges is death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, Tbilisi argues that no opposition figure or political activist has been sentenced to death in Belarus under the current government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The widespread human rights violations in Belarus “are not sufficient grounds to conclude that a specific person would face the danger of torture upon return,” the Georgian government argued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also accused Ki\u015blak of trying to “distort the general content of [the] unbiased and well-justified asylum process” in Georgia, denying that the Belarusian activist had faced discrimination. However, the Georgian Dream government has not granted asylum to a single Belarusian applicant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Human Rights Committee has given Ki\u015blak two months to submit his counterarguments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Georgia’s authorities don’t understand, or pretend not to understand, what is going on in Belarus,” he told Pozirk<\/em>. “I plan to submit material illustrating the level of repression, torture and persecution of political opponents in my country.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia had denied political asylum to Ki\u015blak twice before he lodged his complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee. Although the Georgian authorities appear to have acknowledged that he cannot be deported for the time being, they have refused to issue him a temporary identity document. His bank accounts have been blocked because his Belarusian passport expired in 2024 and he has no other valid identification.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many Belarusians moved to Georgia to escape the politically motivated persecution unleashed by the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime after the 2020 post-election protests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the Georgian migration authorities have recently intensified their anti-immigration campaign, conducting raids to identify undocumented migrants, including door-to-door checks, with Belarusians among those targeted. Local media and diaspora activists have reported cases of foreigners being deported on what they describe as trumped-up grounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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