Human rights activists have named students Hleb Fitzner, Illya Trakhtenberg, Maryia Kalenik, Viktoryia Hrankouskaya, Anastasiya Bulybenka, as well as a BSUIR instructor Volha Filatchankova as political prisoners. This way, there are already 132 people in Belarus who have been recognized as prisoners of conscience.
Belarusian human rights organizations have issued a joint statement demanding the immediate release of politically persecuted students and a BSUIR instructor.
On November 12, police detained the leaders and activists of the Belarusian Students’ Association. On November 23, Hleb Fitzner, Illya Trakhtenberg, Maryia Kalenik, Viktoryia Hrankouskaya, Anastasiya Bulybenka, as well as the detained instructor of the BSUIR Volha Filatchankova were charged and detained.
Human rights activists, in turn, emphasize that the persecution of students and teachers took place after the peaceful exercise of the freedoms guaranteed by the Constitution and international human rights norms — freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly. The accusations made by the investigation are politically motivated, they believe.
In total, human rights activists have recognized 132 people as prisoners of conscience in Belarus.
