22.02.2018. Каменный Лог. Елена Тонкачева возвращается в Беларусь. Фото: Ales Bialiatski.
Former prominent human rights defender Elena Tonkacheva was forced to leave Belarus and is currently in Russia. This was reported to Reform.news by her daughter Ekaterina Daneyko.
Elena Tonkacheva went out to walk her dog at around 10:30 a.m. on January 29, when she was detained by a special operations group. The detention took place near the entrance of her apartment building in Minsk.
A search was conducted until 2:00 p.m. Law enforcement officers were looking for “items, documents and other circumstances that could be linked to support for extremist activities both inside Belarus and abroad.”
Elena Tonkacheva was interrogated as a “witness” at the city department of the KGB. The interrogation lasted until around 1:30 a.m. on January 30.
Throughout this time, the human rights defender was pressured to cooperate.
“That is, they were interested in human rights groups abroad and inside the country. First and foremost. And questions of how donor assistance is organised or exists. I refused to cooperate,” Tonkacheva told Reform.news.
In the morning, Tonkacheva was informed that she would be deported. She holds Russian citizenship but has lived in Belarus for more than 35 years.
“Throughout the following day, a decision was being made and a way of deportation was sought. From the morning I was already notified that I would be deported. From the moment I was detained near the entrance of my own home on the 29th, I could no longer return home. As a result, as of today I am in the Russian Federation,” she explained.
The human rights defender thanked everyone who helped her during these days, took care of her pets and helped purchase tickets.
“And I will repeat once again, the main task was the signing of documents on cooperation and potential future informing on my colleagues and friends who are outside the Republic of Belarus for well-known reasons. I refused this interaction. I was told that all further consequences were the result of my decision to refuse cooperation,” she said.
Tonkacheva asked that her acquaintances and colleagues be warned that her equipment is in the possession of the KGB and that provocations are possible.
“I would be grateful for the following warning, which I ask the media to publish in full. All people who were in communication with me and are in my contact lists (in my phone book, in all messengers), please delete my contacts. My phone and my two computers are in the State Security Committee. Any contacts from my accounts, including email, should be excluded from your contact lists for security reasons. Thank you for your understanding,” Tonkacheva said.
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Elena Tonkacheva has been actively engaged in the promotion and protection of human rights in Belarus for more than 30 years. In 1996, she founded the Center for Legal Transformation. Tonkacheva was previously deported from Belarus as well — on November 13, 2014, the authorities annulled her residence permit and expelled her from the country. She was only able to return to Belarus in February 2018. She remained in the country until 2026.