A jailed opposition activist in Belarus resurfaced in a video shot by a pro-government blogger on Wednesday after having had no contact with his family for more than 700 days, just weeks before elections, prompting criticism from the country’s strongman leader. It is almost certain to retain power.
Viktor Babaryka, 61, has been denied access to his family and lawyers while serving a 14-year sentence in a penal colony after failing to get on the ballot against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko in the 2020 election.
Babaryka was last heard from in February 2023, and other prisoners said she was hospitalized with symptoms of beatings later that year. Since then, authorities have not released any information about his condition and have barred his lawyer from meeting him. The European Parliament has urged the authorities to release him and other political prisoners.
Raman Pratasevich, a former opposition journalist who later became a government supporter after being arrested himself, posted photos and a letter video in which Babarika congratulated his family.
It was unclear when or under what circumstances the photos were taken, and The Associated Press could not independently verify them.
Babaryka, who looked significantly thinner than his previous appearance, was depicted wearing a prison uniform with a yellow tag marking him as a political prisoner and thus identifying him as Was subjected to particularly harsh prison conditions.
Pavel Sapelka, representative of the Viasna Human Rights Center, said the photos were released ahead of the January 26 presidential election, in which Lukashenko is seeking a seventh, five-year term to add to his more than three decades in power.
“The authorities decided to show Babaryka before the elections to avoid accusations of forced disappearance of opposition activists behind bars,” Sapelka said. “The emaciated Babaryka is a symbol of the nightmare of repression in Belarus, a sad reminder to others who dare to challenge Lukashenko.”
In November, Pratasevich posted photos of Maria Kolesnikova, another prominent opposition activist, who had been detained for more than 20 months without any communication with relatives or friends.
Babaryka is one of 1,258 political prisoners in Belarus, according to Viasna, the country’s leading human rights group. Top opposition figures were jailed or fled the country amid a widespread crackdown following the 2020 election. Authorities responded to mass demonstrations against vote-rigging with brutal repression, with approximately 65,000 people arrested and thousands brutally beaten by police.
According to Viasna, at least seven political prisoners have died in custody.
Like Babarika, many other opposition activists have been kept incommunicado.
Lukashenko pardoned some political prisoners last year, but authorities began a new wave of arrests ahead of the election in a bid to root out any signs of dissent.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to leave the country after challenging Lukashenko in the 2020 vote, said she was happy to see Babaryka alive and demanded that authorities release information about the others, including her husband. Release those who have been deprived of communication. Activist Sierhei Tsikhanousky.
He said, “We must now demand to see all those who have been kept in isolation completely safe, and that the cruel and inhumane communication practice must stop.”
Pratasevich ran a Telegram messaging app channel that was widely used by participants in the 2020 protests. He was living in exile when he was arrested in 2021 after being kicked off a Ryanair flight from Greece to Lithuania, which was diverted to Minsk due to a bomb threat. Once in custody, he made several confessions on state television, which critics claim were made under duress. He was later released and pardoned.
Sapelka said, “We consider Pratasevich a hostage. He is doing everything the Belarusian authorities ordered.”