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Maryia Kalesnikava: Five years in custody - Amnesty demands freedom!
Amnesty International calls for the release of Maryia Kalesnikava, which suffers from bad prison conditions in Belarus.
Maryia Kalesnikava: Five years in custody - Amnesty demands freedom!
On September 4, 2025, Amnesty International Austria calls for the immediate release of Maryia Kalesnikava, on the occasion of the 5th anniversary of her disappearance. Kalesnikava, a prominent opposition politician, supported the independent candidate Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya during the presumably fake presidential election in 2020. She was arrested on September 7, 2020 and has since suffered from catastrophic conditions in Belarus.
The Kalesnikava family expresses great concerns about their lives. According to reports, contact with the outside world is severely restricted, while it is detained by poor medical care. According to her sister, Tatsiana Khomich, the uncertainty about her well -being is worrying, especially since the last news of her came in early February 2025. In this message she assured that she was doing well, but the truth about her state of health remains unclear. Developments in Belarus' prisons awaken fears that their condition is seriously endangered.
Alarming conditions of detention
The conditions for political prisoners in Belarus are alarming. According to a report by the Human Rights Center Viasna, there was already at least 1,417 political prisoners in mid -January 2024. These people, including journalists, bloggers and human rights activists, are often detained arbitrarily and must suffer from extremely bad conditions. Insulation and the arbitrary extension of prison terms are the order of the day. Amnesty International also documents cases of refused medical care for prisoners, including Marfa Rabkova and Nasta Loika who have suffered serious health problems.
According to reports, Kalesnikava itself should only weigh 45 kilograms, which underlines its worrying state of health. While the Belarusian authorities have repeatedly reported violence in prisons, as in the case of Alexander Lukaschenko, which was granted in the BBC interview in November 2021 in November 2021, the government does not take any steps to be held accountable. This suggests that the situation for Kalesnikava and other detainees will continue to be critical.
Protest campaign for release
Amnesty International plans to protest on September 5, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. in front of the Belarusian embassy in Vienna. In this campaign, top -class speakers, including Shoura Hashemi, Maryna Yakubovich and Kai Ohrem, are expected to draw attention to Kalesnikava's difficult situation and the conditions in Belarusian prisons. The protesters want to put pressure on the EU and in particular on countries such as Austria so that they are committed to the release of Kalesnikava and other political prisoners.
The international community should take the alarming reports about the provisions and health states in Belarusian prisons seriously. Without pressure and attention, the situation for Maryia Kalesnikava and many others could deteriorate.
For more information about the situation of Maryia Kalesnikava and other political prisoners in Belarus, visit the reports of Ots,, Mirror and Amnesty International.