#FreeViasna: Latest news about jailed Viasna human rights defenders
On September 17, #FreeViasna campaign of solidarity with the imprisoned Viasna members was launched. Here’s the latest news about them.
Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovic, and Uladzimir Labkovich have been in custody for over 700 days
On 14 July 2021, Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovic, Uladzimir Labkovich, and the other Viasna activists were searched. The human rights activists were accused of smuggling and financing group actions that grossly violated public order.
On March 3, 2023, Judge Maryna Zapasnik sentenced the Viasna activists to lenghty jail terms: Labkovich received seven years in prison, Stefanovic was sentenced to nine years, and Bialiatski’s verdict was 10 years. The human rights activists pleaded not guilty to any charges brought against them.
Uladzimir Labkovich called his family from prison
His wife, Nina Labkovich, posted about it on her Facebook page:
“A month after the sentence, we received a call from Uladzimir. Four minutes—it felt like a blink of an eye.”
Valiantsin Stefanovic has been assigned to clean cables
Valiantsin Stefanovic is currently serving his sentence in the Mahilioŭ penal colony No. 15. According to the source of RFE/RL, Stefanovic has been assigned to clean cables, a job that inmates consider to be very harmful and unprofitable as they are paid very little for it.
Renowned historian Timothy Snyder will become the voice of Ales Bialiatski
Andrei Kureichyk's art installation at the Oslo Freedom Forum 2023, “Voices of the New Belarus,” features 16 monologues of Belarusian political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski, Maryia Kalesnikava, Mikalai Statkevich, Maryna Zolatava, and Ihar Losik. The exhibit features voices of American actors and prominent Yale University professors, including renowned American historians Timothy Snyder and Marci Shore, philosopher Jason Stanley, director Yuri Kordonsky, and others.
The exhibition will be displayed on Thursday, June 15, at SALT (Langkaia 1, 0150 Oslo) during the 2023 Oslo Freedom Forum.
The Oslo Freedom Forum 2023 is the world's largest human rights forum, held annually in Oslo, New York, and Taipei.
The Human Rights House Network conducted an act of solidarity with the political prisoners from Viasna
The action occurred near the mural dedicated to Ales Bialiatski in Vilnius, opposite the Embassy of Belarus in Lithuania.
Recently, there has been no news about the leader of the Homieĺ branch of Viasna, Leanid Sudalenka, the coordinator of the volunteer service Marfa Rabkova, and volunteer Andrei Chapiuk.
For more news about Viasna members, visit freeviasna.org
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