FIDH calls for the cancellation of sentences for Viasna human rights defenders and their immediate release
Today marks two years since Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski, FIDH Vice-President Valiantsin Stefanovic, and lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich were convicted and sentenced to heavy prison sentences. On this occasion, the Observatory for the protection of human rights defenders (FIDH-OMCT) reiterates its call for their immediate and unconditional release, and for the end of the targeting of all Belarusian human rights defenders.
"The sentence is a manifestation of the destructive policies of the Lukashenka regime"
In its statement, the Observatory reminds that the guilty verdict for the three human rights defenders was based on fabricated charges and that the sentences were upheld after an appeal was heard.
"The three human rights defenders were arbitrarily arrested on July 14, 2021, as part of coordinated raids and arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, journalists, and civil society organizations, and spent nearly 18 months in pretrial arbitrary detention before the beginning of the trial on January 5, 2023," the statement says. "Since their arrest, Messrs. Bialiatski, Stefanovic, and Labkovich have been arbitrarily detained in appalling conditions, in which their state of health has deteriorated significantly."
FIDH-OMCT notes that the reprisals against Viasna and its members is part of a broader crackdown on civil society in Belarus following the mass protests against the falsified 2020 Presidential elections. "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," the human rights organizations stress.
They also highlight that Viasna is one of the leading Belarusian human rights organizations and is at the forefront of the Belarusian human rights movement. Viasna has also received numerous prestigious awards for its unwavering stance on human rights and democracy, including the Right Livelihood Award (2020) and The Albie Awards (2022).
FIDH-OMCT also mentions that as part of the organization's persecution, Viasna members Marfa Rabkova and Andrei Chapiuk have been arbitrarily detained since 17 September and 2 October 2020, respectively, on charges of allegedly organising criminal groups between 2016 and 2020. On 6 September 2022, the Minsk City Court sentenced Marfa Rabkova to 15 years in prison and Andrei Chapiuk six years in prison. Likewise, Leanid Sudalenka, head of Viasna’s regional office in Homiel, was arbitrarily detained and released only in July 2023, after serving his three-year sentence in full.
"The Observatory strongly condemns the unfair conviction and ongoing arbitrary detention of Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovic, Uladzimir Labkovich, Marfa Rabkova and Andrei Chapiuk, and denounces the politically motivated, arbitrary and severe harassment and ill-treatment they have been subjected to since the beginning of their detention.
The Observatory urges the Belarusian authorities to quash their sentences, to immediately and unconditionally release them and all other prisoners in Belarus convicted under politically motivated charges, and to put an end to all acts of harassment against them, including at the judicial level. The Observatory further urges the Belarusian authorities to respect all their international human rights obligations, and calls on the international community to use all available measures to ensure that justice, accountability and reparations are provided to all human rights defenders arbitrarily imprisoned in Belarus.”
