{"id":70878,"date":"2024-03-03T22:02:29","date_gmt":"2024-03-03T19:02:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/70878\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:40:57","slug":"dozens-of-rights-groups-demand-freedom-for-bialacki-stefanovic-labkovic","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/70878\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of rights groups demand freedom for Bialacki, Stefanovi\u010d, \u0141abkovi\u010d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Valancin Stefanovi\u010d, Ale\u015b Bialacki and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d.\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (Viasna)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

March 3, Pozirk.<\/em><\/strong> Thirty-six human rights organizations from various countries have demanded that political prisoners Ale\u015b Bialacki, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d of the Viasna Human Rights Center be immediately and unconditionally released.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) unveiled the joint statement today, on the anniversary of the activists’ sentencing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The statement called on the international community “to use all available diplomatic, political and other means” to free Bialacki, his associates and all Belarusian political prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Viasna case was “based on trumped-up charges and characterized by grave human rights violations, exposing the politically motivated and persecutory nature of the trial,” according to the signatories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human rights groups expressed “their grave concern over the unjust imprisonment” of Bialacki, Stefanovi\u010d and \u0141abkovi\u010d, noting “the high risk of torture and ill-treatment they face in detention”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In early May 2023, Ale\u015b Bialacki was transferred from pre-trial detention center No. 1 to penal colony No. 9 in Horki, considered one of the harshest prisons in Belarus,” the statement reads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Horki colony, the groups said, “is well-known for its brutal conditions, especially for political prisoners, who are subjected to systematic harassment and ill-treatment, including incommunicado detention, isolation, and the unjustified and prolonged placement in punishment cells.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In November 2023, it became known that Ale\u015b Bialacki was placed in a cell-type room (PKT) . . . For an extended period of time, he has been denied contact with his lawyer and his relatives, who cannot call and do not receive letters from him. Likewise, Ale\u015b Bialacki apparently does not receive letters and parcels from outside. Currently, the prison administration refuses to accept parcels with medical supplies from Ale\u015b Bialacki’s relatives, and Ale\u015b Bialacki’s state of health remains unknown,” the statement emphasized.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human rights groups also voiced concern about the condition of Stefanovi\u010d and \u0141abkovi\u010d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stefanovi\u010d “was forced to do extremely harmful and low-paid work” in Mahilo\u016d’s Penal Colony No. 15. In January 2024, he was transferred to the colony’s internal prison (PKT), “where he is kept in a cell all the time, with only 30 minutes of outdoor time a day being allowed”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Valancin Stefanovi\u010d receives only mail or packages sent by his family, and all phone calls and family visits are banned,” the human rights groups said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recalling that the Viasna members were added to an extremism list, the groups stressed that after their arrest in July 2021, Bialacki, Stefanovi\u010d and \u0141abkovi\u010d spent 17 months “in appalling detention conditions, with severely restricted access to lawyers, medical assistance, and communication”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The reprisals against Viasna and its members are part of a broader crackdown on civil society in Belarus following the mass protests against the falsified 2020 presidential elections,” the statement reads. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In the aftermath of the protests, the authorities shut down all human rights and other independent organizations, leaving not one legally operating human rights NGO in the country. Viasna is one of the leading Belarusian human rights organizations and is at the forefront of the Belarusian human rights movement”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The human rights groups also demanded the immediate and unconditional release for Marfa Rabkova, a coordinator of Viasna’s volunteers, and Andrej \u010capiuk, a volunteer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the FIDH, the address was signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Memorial (Russia), Barys Zvozska\u016d Human Rights House, Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Lawtrend, Pravavaja Inicyjatyva, Belarusian PEN and other organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ale\u015b Bialacki was sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on March 3, 2023, in a politically-motivated case; his deputy and FIDH Vice-President Stefanovi\u010d was sentenced to nine; coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign \u0141abkovi\u010d received seven years. \u0179micier Sa\u0142a\u016djo\u016d, a human rights defender who fled the country, was sentenced to eight years in absentia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rabkova was sentenced to 14 years and nine months behind bars in a case against “anarchists”; \u010capiuk was sentenced to five years and nine months. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB) added them to the list of “persons involved in terrorist activities”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In August 2023, Viasna was declared an extremist group by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The ministry said the group, which documents and reports human rights violations, spreads extremism through online media and regional branches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March 3, Pozirk. Thirty-six human rights organizations from various countries have demanded that political prisoners Ale\u015b Bialacki, Valancin Stefanovi\u010d and U\u0142adzimir \u0141abkovi\u010d of the Viasna Human Rights Center be immediately and unconditionally released. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) unveiled the joint statement today, on the anniversary of the activists’ sentencing. The statement called […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":70858,"template":"","rubric":[16],"class_list":["post-70878","articles","type-articles","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDozens of rights groups demand freedom for Bialacki, Stefanovi\u010d, \u0141abkovi\u010d | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"March 3, Pozirk. 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