A search is being conducted at the Minsk apartment of Viasna human rights defender Uladzimir Labkovich. Vladimir himself reported this, Viasna writes.
According to him, the search is being carried out as part of a new criminal case opened in connection with his activities after his release. The nature of the charges and other details are unknown. The search warrant was issued by the Prosecutor General’s Office, which indicates the seriousness of the charges being brought, human rights defenders note.
Uladzimir Labkovich is a lawyer with the Viasna Human Rights Centre and coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign. In 2023, Labkovich was sentenced to seven years in prison in the Viasna case. The human rights defenders were found guilty of organised-group smuggling and financing collective actions that grossly violated public order. On 13 December, he was released and forcibly removed from Belarus.