A Polish court has cancelled the date set for the transfer of a child to his biological father, who intended to take the boy to Belarus. The child’s guardian, Hanna Kanavalava, announced the decision together with the Partyzanka initiative. The transfer had been scheduled for June 27, but the court managed to consider an appeal filed by Kanavalava before that date.
“It is difficult to put into words how much effort, worry and anxiety went into this struggle. The past few weeks have been a real test for everyone. We sincerely thank everyone who supported us. Thank you to human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, civil society organisations, friends, acquaintances and complete strangers who wrote, called, shared information and helped in every possible way,” she wrote on Facebook.
She thanked Amnesty International Polska, the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the Commissioner for Children’s Rights, lawyer Hanna Matsiyeuskaya, politicians Pavel Latushka and Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, journalist Iryna Khalip, and other individuals whose names were not disclosed for security reasons.
“There is still a fight ahead of us, but our little boy remains at home, with the people he considers his family. Together, we managed to achieve what only a few days ago seemed almost impossible,” Anna added.
Hanna Kanavalava emigrated from Belarus to Poland with her two grandchildren, whose parents were serving lengthy prison sentences on politically motivated charges. As reported by The Warsaw, two more children later came under her care — seven-year-old Ales and his older brother Yauhen. They were placed with Kanavalava after child welfare authorities confirmed reports of addiction problems affecting their opposition-minded mother, who had moved to Poland from Belarus in 2021.
In 2023, Ales’s biological father, who lives in Minsk and had previously been sentenced to nine years in prison for drug trafficking, contacted Kanavalava himself. She supported the father’s contact with the child and helped him obtain a Polish visa. However, the man filed a court case seeking custody. The court ruled in his favour. During the proceedings, he did not disclose his intention to take the child, referred to as Marsel, to Belarus. Once this plan became known, Kanavalava appealed the decision. It was noted that the child has international protection status in Poland.