Interior Ministry confirms entry ban on rights defender Alena Tankachova

Human rights defender Alena Tankachova will not be able to return to Belarus until February 2018, naviny.by said today. The Ministry of Internal Affairs refused to reduce the deportation period without explanation. The human rights activist insists that the case is politically motivated.

The activist was deported as a result of a decision by the Pieršamajski district police department of Minsk. The ban stems from several traffic violations, including speeding, which were described by the police as ‘abusing public order’.

A citizen of the Russian Federation, Tankachova has lived in Belarus for more than 20 years. According to experts, the expulsion is excessive interference in her private and family life, taking into account the insignificance of the offense.

“The authorities twice closed the based human rights organization, which she founded,” says the website of the Center for Legal Transformation, an NGO headed by Tankachova. “She has also been under pressure due to her work for the collection and evaluation of information about arrests and trials of peaceful protesters of 19 December 2010.”