21-year-old student detained in Polatsk for 'insulting a representative of the authorities'

Polatsk State University student Alyaksandra Buka was placed in the temporary detention center, TUT.by reports.

According to the mother of the student, the police came to search her place when she returned from classes to the dormitory.

“She managed to tell me about it on the phone. I learned from her friends that during the search my daughter’s equipment and probably something else had been taken. Later I found out that Alesya was detained for up to 72 hours on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 369 of the Criminal Code (insulting a representative of the authorities). She is in the TDF,” said Yulia Buka.

Alyaksandra is a fourth-year student of the Humanities Faculty of Polatsk State University, specializing in Romance-Germanic philology.

She has an active civic position. In October she, together with other students of PSU, took part in a video appeal against lawlessness and violence in Belarus after the election. In March, Alyaksandra Buka and three other PSU students participated in a flash mob dedicated to political prisoners: young people shaved their heads in solidarity with them.

According to human rights activists, since the summer of 2020 the most massive repressions in the modern history of Belarus have taken place. Since August, more than 2,400 criminal cases have been opened in connection with the protests, and 302 people have been recognized political prisoners as of March 26. Thousands of protesters across the country became victims of deliberate torture, and over 33 thousand people were held in administrative detention. According to various estimates, from 4 to 10 people died as a result of the actions of security forces. At the same time, no one has been brought to justice for either torture or murder.