Belarus human rights activist goes on starvation strike in newest protest in opposition to Lukashenko authorities

TALLINN, Estonia — A human rights activist in Belarus on Thursday started a starvation strike inside jail within the newest protest in opposition to the repressive authorities of Alexander Lukashenko, a rights group mentioned.

The Belarusian human rights group Viasna mentioned Aliaksandar Vaitseshyk went on starvation strike within the metropolis of Baranavichy, in western Belarus, after being sentenced to fifteen days of administrative arrest.

He was convicted on costs of “distributing extremist supplies,” a cost which Belarus authorities have steadily used to detain activists in recent times.

Belarus was rocked by mass protests throughout Alexander Lukashenko’s disputed election in 2020, which the opposition and the West condemned as fraudulent. Since then Belarusian authorities have detained greater than 35,000 individuals, a lot of whom have reportedly been tortured whereas in custody.

Vaitseshyk was detained on Nov. 9 by armed males close to his dwelling on the identical day 10 opposition activists have been additionally detained, Viasna mentioned. Throughout a search of his dwelling, Vaitseshyk’s laptop computer and cellphone have been confiscated.

On Thursday, one other human rights activist was additionally detained within the southern metropolis of Mozyr. In line with Viasna, Uladzimir Tselyapun was on his technique to file a grievance with the town authorities however was arrested earlier than arriving. He’s at present being held in a brief detention heart Viasna mentioned.

There are 1,450 political prisoners at present behind bars in Belarus, together with Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and human rights activist Ales Bialiatski.