Ihar Losik attempted suicide second time while in custody

Ihar Losik, a Belarusian journalist and political prisoner, attempted suicide in a penal colony. He has been on hunger strike for a long time while in solitary confinement in the Navapolatsk penal colony and then cut his hands and neck. Ihar is alive and is...

What Lukashenko’s regime persecutes Belarusian women for

On International Women’s Day, the Viasna Human Rights Center tells how and why Lukashenko’s regime persecutes Belarusian women. In 2020, the majority of the Belarusian people voted for Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya in the presidential election – contrary to the...

Belarusians abroad may not vote in constitutional referendum

Press secretary of Belarus’ Foreign Ministry Anatoly Glaz said that no polling stations for the constitutional referendum on February 27 will be opened abroad. The official cited the “lack of staff in some embassies” and the coronavirus pandemic as reasons for this...

There are more than 1,000 political prisoners in Belarus

The number of political prisoners in Belarus exceeded 1,000 people. According to “Viasna” human rights center, today there are 1022 of them in the country. The number of people held in prisons for political reasons is even higher because many refuse such...

FIDH report: Supplying the Means for Repression in Belarus

FIDH releases a briefing paper analysing foreign-made less lethal weapons and firearms employed by the Belarusian security forces to crack down on peaceful protesters, provides an overview of their procurement and application, and outlines possible avenues for state...

Political prisoners in Belarus in 2021. Statistics

At the end of 2021, there were 969 political prisoners in Belarus. This is the largest number of political prisoners in the history of independent Belarus. There are people of all ages, professions and social status among the prisoners, but they are united by one...

Maria Kalesnikava gave an interview from prison

For over a year now, the Belarusian opposition politician Maria Kalesnikava has been behind bars. During the presidential campaign in 2020, she was in charge of Viktar Babaryka’s team and, after the protests began, she joined the activities of the opposition’s...

Mother of five sentenced to four years in prison

On 3 December, a Minsk court has sentenced Volha Zalatar, to a mother of five children and a political prisoner. She was found guilty of creating an extremist group and sentenced to four years in a general regime colony, the human rights center Viasna reported....