Polish MFA is deeply concerned over the reports from Belarus regarding another wave of massive searches and arrests among former prisoners of conscience and relatives of persons currently incarcerated by the regime on political grounds.
The situation in Belarus concerning human rights is deteriorating after the mass arrests of family members of political opponents to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko.
“Mass searches and detentions, including of former political prisoners and relatives of political prisoners, are taking place in these hours all over #Belarus. There are hundreds of searches and detentions across the country. The main reason is donations to NGOs. Such actions are crimes against humanity in the form of politically motivated persecution,” Pavel Latushka, Deputy Head of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, wrote in a post on Twitter on january 23.
A day after, he supplied more information concerning Lukashenko’s criminal persecution.
“During 23-24 Jan, mass searches and arrests unfolded in at least 12 cities across #Belarus. Our information indicates that over 150 individuals have been subjected to political persecution by the KGB. # Lukashenko’s regime’s impunity fuels the escalation of repression. The dictator is clearing the field ahead of Feb 25 — the day he appoints his deputies.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland reacted promptly by strongly condemning the systemic repressions of the Belarusian regime against its society, including the detention of Maryna Adamovich, the wife of Mikalai Statkevich, a Belarusian opposition activist sentenced to 14 years in prison.
“The human rights situation in Belarus has been aggravating. The increased pressure of Lukashenko’s regime on the civil society and his political opponents over the past weeks aims to intimidate Belarusians, forcing them into silence or fleeing the country,” emphasised the press release of the ministry.
“Since the rigged presidential election in 2020, thousands of people have been imprisoned, and at least 1,400 political prisoners remain in detention. Conditions of detention of the regime’s opponents are an abomination of humanity – the oppositionists serve their sentences in overcrowded, cold cells, with limited access to health care and limited contacts with relatives”.
Poland constantly expresses solidarity with the democratic opposition of Belarus by urging the Minsk authorities to unconditionally release all political prisoners and stop repressions against its society.
