Volha Shparaha, a Belarusian philosopher and member of the opposition Coordination Council, has been forced out of Belarus.
“My dear friends! I am at liberty; and I have already arrived in Vilnius. Before I was released, they [authorities] had sent us a court ruling imposing another 12 days [of administrative arrest] on me. I had to urgently and secretly leave together with my beloved husband Alyaksandr Adamyants,” she said on Facebook.
In October, Volha Shparaha who participated in protest marches in Minsk was detained twice. In the wake of the first detention, the woman was released before the court hearing, but then she got a 15-day jail term under Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (violating rules of holding mass events). Volha was serving the term in Zhodzina prison and freed on October, 24.
Volha Shparaha is one of the creators of the online magazine. She supervises Modern Society, Ethics and Politics section in the ECLAB non-formal education project.
The Coordination Council was set up by opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her associates as part of taking urgent measures to restore law and order in Belarus as well as to ensure the transfer of power in the country. Belarus’ Prosecutor General opened a criminal case over establishing the Council, naming it a ‘threat to national security’.
