Belarusian authorities force Russian human rights defender to leave train near Lithuania

Liliya Shibanova, a member of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council and the founder of the association ‘Golos’ (Vote), was detained by Belarusian border guards at Hudahai station when she was going by train from Lithuania to Russia overnight into Friday.

The woman could not be contacted with for a long time.

“According to reports, Shibanova was forced to leave the train by which she was traveling to Moscow to take part in the uman Rights Council session on public participation in monitoring elections scheduled for 16 May”, human rights defenders reported.

According to the Belarusian State Border Committee, after passing through border and customs control, Shibanova took a taxi and left.

“She was got off the train, her belongings were examined by customs officers. At 23:30 she was driven away in a taxi,” Alyaksandr Tsishchanka, Spokesman for the Border Committee, told news agency Interfax.

 

 

 

 

 

(UPD) On Friday morning Shibanova has come to Moscow and is getting ready to grant an interview about the incidents, her colleagues say on Facebook.

The Human Rights Council is set to appeal to the Russian president. They stress Shibanova’s rights and legitimate interests were violated by inexplicable actions of the Belarusian authorities.

In 2014, the Russian regime recognised Golos a foreign agent and put it on the appropriate list of the Ministry of Justice. As a result, it stopped working as an association and transformed into a civic movement.

Belsat.eu, following tvrain.ru