4 February, 2024Political prisoner Zinaida Mikhniuk, activist and former chairperson of IndustriALL affiliate Radio and Electronics Industry Workers Union REP, has been released from jail after serving a two-years sentence for "insulting Lukashenka”.
Zinaida was detained on 25 March 2022 after her home and union office were searched. Accusations against her were based on materials from a wiretap, installed as she was a union activist.
There are currently 1,414 political prisoners in Belarus. Among them are dozens of leaders, activists and members of the three IndustriALL affiliates that were liquidated by the Belarusian Supreme Court in July 2022.
Repression and state attacks on independent unions, civil society and human rights are a response to the massive protests after Lukashenka's re-election in August 2020.