“Marfa Rabkova's case epitomizes the horrors currently faced by human rights defenders and the wider civil society in Belarus. Over the last 18 months, Alyaksandr Lukashenka's government has effectively outlawed the country's entire human rights community by imprisoning dozens of human rights activists under spurious charges, closing vast numbers of NGOs and arbitrarily detaining hundreds of peaceful protesters. Marfa Rabkova is facing up to 20 years in prison amid an onslaught of obviously baseless, politically-motivated charges when all she has done is stand up for human rights. The secrecy that surrounds her prosecution, however, means we may never know the details of what she has been officially accused of. The Belarusian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release not only Marfa Rabkova, but all of her detained colleagues from Viasna and other activists that continue to be arbitrarily detained throughout the country. The relentless persecution of civil society groups in Belarus must end.”
01 Dec 2021
7
4
Read More
