Leader of the Belarusian democratic movement Svetlana Tikhanovskaya (centre) and Flemish Minister President Jan Jambon (R) attend the opening of the 'Mission of Democratic Belarus', diplomatic offices to serve the Belarusian opposition in Brussels, on March 1, 2023. (Photo by JAMES ARTHUR GEKIERE / Belga / AFP)
Geneva: Belarus's already dire rights situation is deteriorating further, a UN expert warned on Thursday, a day before Nobel Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is expected to be sentenced to over a decade behind bars.
"My assessment of the situation of human rights is that it worsened dramatically," special rapporteur on Belarus Anais Marin told an event on the sidelines of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.
"It's going from bad to worse."
She and the UN rights office are due to present reports to the council this month on the violations committed in the country surrounding contested presidential elections three years ago.
Belarus was gripped by months of unprecedented anti-government demonstrations after the August 2020 vote resulted in a sixth term in office to President Alexander Lukashenko -- a staunch ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Marin, an independent expert, said she was concerned that "the continuously worsening human rights situation in Belarus could fall below the radar."
There have not been large-scale protests in Belarus for more than two years, she said, "because independent voices in the country have all been silenced."
Marine pointed out that Belarus is currently holding "at least 1,400" political prisoners, while over 700 civil society organisations had been forced to close their offices in the past three years.
And 32 journalists and media workers are currently detained in the country, she said, citing the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
"I remain gravely concerned about the systematic... punishment for the exercise of freedom of expression," she said.
A stark example of the crackdown is the expected harsh verdict Friday in the trial against Bialiatski, the founder of Viasna, the authoritarian country's most prominent rights group.
Bialiatski, who was co-awarded last year's Nobel Peace Prize, went on trial earlier this year along with associates Valentin Stefanovich and Vladimir Labkovich, allegedly for smuggling cash into Belarus to fund opposition activities.
Natalia Satsunckevich of Viasna told Thursday's event in Geneva that she expected Bialiatski to receive the 12-year prison term demanded by the prosecutor, while his associates were expected to receive slightly shorter sentences.
"It is a great tragedy," she told AFP.
"They are behind bars only because they helped other people to exercise their rights. They committed no crimes."
More than 20 rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, issued a statement Thursday slamming the criminal prosecution of the three men and demanding that Belarusian authorities "release them immediately and unconditionally".
"It is of great concern that the authorities are criminalising human rights work at a time when the role of human rights defenders is most needed," Marin said.
