|
Human rights defender and member of Human
Rights Center “Viasna” Andrei Chapiuk has safely left Belarus,
one month after his release from prison. The Observatory for the
protection of human rights defenders (FIDH-OMCT) expresses its deep
relief that Andrei Chapiuk is no longer at immediate risk of further
repression but recalls that several other Viasna members, including
its leaders, remain arbitrarily detained for their legitimate human
rights activities in Belarus.
Paris-Geneva, 10 June 2025 - On 18 April 2025, Andrei Chapiuk,
a volunteer of Human Rights Center “Viasna”, was due to be released
from prison after fully serving his sentence. However, instead of
regaining his complete liberty and freedom of movement, upon his release
Andrei was immediately apprehended, handcuffed and taken in for renewed
interrogations by officers of the Main Department for Combating
Organised Crime and Corruption (GUBAZIK). In a video showing Andrei’s release,
published on a pro-government Telegram channel, Andrei is also verbally
harassed and told that “nobody” needed him, other than his parents.
Andrei was subsequently placed under "preventive supervision",
prohibiting him from leaving the country. In light of the continued and
escalating reprisals, Andrei Chapiuk was forced to leave Belarus to
ensure his safety.
The Observatory recalls that Andrei Chapiuk was arbitrarily arrested
and detained on 2 October 2020 by officers of the GUBAZIK, in
retaliation for his peaceful human rights activities as a Viasna
volunteer. Despite the lack of evidence, authorities spent a year and a
half attempting to fabricate charges against him, eventually accusing
him of "participating in mass riots" and "involvement in a criminal
organisation". On 6 September 2022, after four and a half months of closed court hearings and almost two years of pre-trial detention, Andrei Chapiuk was convicted and sentenced
to six years in a maximum-security colony and a fine of 16,000
Belarusian rubles (approximately 4,300 Euros) by the Minsk City Court
for the aforementioned charges.
Andrei Chapiuk lodged an appeal against this sentence to the Supreme
Court of Belarus, and on 18 February 2023, the Supreme Court ruled to
slightly reduce
Andrei Chapiuk’s prison sentence from six years to five years and nine
months. During his imprisonment, Andrei Chapiuk was subjected to harsh
conditions, including punitive isolation.
Upon his scheduled release in April 2025, Andrei Chapiuk was again
detained for interrogation in a new "political case" and placed under
“preventive supervision”, a form of post-release control that includes
mandatory police registration, movement restrictions, and bans on
employment and housing, effectively continuing his punishment outside
prison walls. The Minsk City Court recognised him as a "malicious
violator of prison rules" and included him in the country’s "extremist
and terrorist" lists, and banned him from leaving the country. He has
faced impossible living conditions as he could not get a regular bank
card, get an official job, or rent a house. Andrei Chapiuk made the
difficult decision to leave the country where staying meant continued
persecution and deprivation of basic civil and political rights.
Andrei Chapiuk should never have spent a single day behind bars as he
was arrested for his peaceful human rights activities, nor been forced
to flee his home. The systematic persecution of Viasna members and other
human rights defenders has left no space for independent civil
society : those not imprisoned are forced into exile, and “preventive
supervision” ensures that even released political prisoners or peaceful
activists remain under constant threat.
The severe repression against Viasna, which currently has four of its
members behind bars, remains deeply concerning. On 6 September 2022,
the Minsk City Court sentenced Marfa Rabkova
to 15 years in prison. Among other charges, Marfa Rabkova was found
guilty of "organising, participating in and training others to
participate in mass riots", "inciting social hostility towards the
government", and "involvement in a criminal organisation". On 14 July
2021, the Belarusian authorities arbitrarily detained Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Viasna chairperson Ales Bialiatski, FIDH Vice President Valiantsin Stefanovic, and Viasna lawyer Uladzimir Labkovich in an unprecedented raid against Belarusian civil society. Convicted on fabricated charges and sentenced
to 10, nine and seven years of imprisonment respectively on 3 March
2023, they remain unlawfully imprisoned at the time of publication of
this statement and are regularly subjected to severe harassment and
ill-treatment.
The reprisals against Viasna and its members are part of a broader
crackdown on civil society in Belarus, especially 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 organisations, leaving not one legally operating
human rights NGO in the country. Viasna is one of the leading Belarusian
human rights organisations and is at the forefront of the Belarusian
human rights movement. According to the organisation, as of 6 June 2025,
1175 individuals remain detained in the country for political reasons, including Nasta Loika, according to the information of national human rights organisations.
The Observatory expresses its deep relief that Andrei Chapiuk is in
safety but reiterates its strong condemnation of the ongoing crackdown
against human rights defenders in Belarus and underlines that the
politically motivated, arbitrary and severe harassment and ill-treatment
of human rights defenders and political prisoners in general in
Belarusian prisons need to stop immediately.
The Observatory calls on the Belarusian authorities to immediately
and unconditionally release Marfa Rabkova, Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin
Stefanovic and Uladzimir Labkovich, as well as all other human rights
defenders arbitrarily detained in Belarus, and to put an end to all acts
of harassment, including at the judicial level, against them and all
Viasna members.
The Observatory finally calls on the authorities in Belarus to ensure
that human rights defenders can carry out their legitimate activities
without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions or being forced
to exile.
|
