TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Prominent Belarusian human rights group Viasna on Tuesday denounced an extension of the detention of a Roman Catholic priest jailed after displaying the Ukrainian flag in a social media post.
Andrzej Jukhniewicz was arrested in early May and charged with carrying out an unauthorized picket action for displaying the flag. Belarus is a close ally of Russia and while it has not sent troops to Ukraine, it has hosted Russian troops and missiles deployed in Ukraine.
The priest’s imprisonment comes amid a sweeping and strict crackdown on dissent in Belarus, which began as a wave of large and sustained protests gripped the country in 2020. The protests began after elections whose official results gave authoritarian Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office. the results were widely regarded as manipulated.
The crackdown saw an estimated 35,000 people arrested, many beaten by police, and Belarus’ most prominent opposition figures fled the country or were jailed – including Viasna’s founder Ales Bialiatski, a Nobel Peace Prize winner .
Jukhniewicz was due to be released from prison this week, but authorities continued his detention until July 2 without explanation, according to a Belarusian Catholic website.
In a statement, Viasna called for the release of Jukhniewicz and all other people she considered political prisoners, and for an end to the repression of dissidents.
