Human Rights Activist Yavorski Calls On Kyiv To React To Actions Of Belarusian Authorities

The regime deported him from the country.

Ukraine must react to the actions of the Belarusian authorities, said Ukrainian human rights activist Uladzimir Yavorski, the husband of the Belarusian human rights activist Tatsiana Hatsura-Yavorskaya, who spent 10 days in prison, the website naviny.by writes. He told about the search in their apartment, and his interrogation by the law-enforcement agencies.

According to Yavorski, a second search in their apartment since his wife's arrest took place on April 12. "After a three-hour search, when the whole room was ransacked in parts, they told me that I had to go with them. They seized old documents, used phones, etc., - said the human rights activist. "They were looking for something that we didn't really have, so it was impossible to find it."

The interrogation, Yavorski noted, lasted several hours, was "to put it mildly, unpleasant and accompanied by psychological and physical violence." Employees were interested in his activities and the activities of his wife. "No one remembered and did not want to hear about the right not to testify against themselves and their relatives," and the lawyer was also not allowed.

At the end of the interrogation, Yavorski was informed that he had 48 hours to leave the country, otherwise he was "threatened to be detained in a criminal case, and the children would be placed in special institutions." "They also warned that I had been banned from entering the country for 10 years. Of course, no documents about this were presented, but they sounded quite convincing," the human rights activist noted.

According to him, on April 14, he flew with his son to Lviv, three older children for various reasons remained in Minsk. "Until that time, I was constantly watched," added Yavorski.

"I believe that Ukraine, of course, should react to such actions. This is not just my own business. This is not only a question of mass persecution of human rights defenders in Belarus for quite common human rights work," he said.

Yavorski stressed that he "is surprised when Ukraine is offended that other countries are only "concerned" about the problems of their country," while "under its very nose, it practically does not react in any way to the situation in Belarus, where there are already about 350 political prisoners. and their number is growing every day." "At the same time, I personally felt all the anti-Ukrainian sentiments and elements of the Russian propaganda towards Ukrainians," he said.