Belarusian Activist Says Released From Detention But Barred From Leaving Armenia

Belarusian activist Dziyana Maiseyenka told RFE/RL’s Belarus Service that she was released from detention in Armenia but that she is prohibited from leaving the South Caucasus nation for now and has submitted documents seeking political asylum.

Maiseyenka was detained on September 2 by Armenian authorities at Minsk’s request as she was crossing the Georgian-Armenian border.

She is wanted in authoritarian Belarus on charges of “organizing and preparing activities that blatantly disrupt public order.”

The charges stem from Maiseyenka’s alleged participation in mass rallies protesting the official results of the August 2020 presidential poll that named authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka the winner.

Many Western governments have refused to recognize the results of the election and do not consider Lukashenka to be the country’s legitimate leader.

An Armenian court is to rule on Maiseyenka’s restrictions before a decision on her possible deportation is made, her Belarusian consultant, lawyer Ales Mikhalevich, told RFE/RL.

Maiseyenka said she will travel on September 3 to the capital, Yerevan, from the city of Noyemberian along the Georgian border to meet with an Armenian lawyer and could continue to pursue political asylum amid the uncertainty over her case.

Maiseyenka left Belarus in the summer of 2023. She is the daughter of former political prisoner Andrey Ivanyushin, who was convicted for a September 19, 2020, incident involving motorcycles near the Europa shopping center, receiving a 2 1/2-year prison sentence.

Maiseyenka said she believes she has been watched by the Belarusian authorities since at least 2022 as she waited for her father’s release.

“They detained my husband and gave him 15 days, although he did not go to any protests,” she told RFE/RL. “I was followed by young men in civilian clothes and caps.”

“In the summer of 2022, I decided to leave Belarus without waiting for my father’s release from prison. He was released in June, but in August he was detained again and imprisoned in Zhodzina for six months.

“Father was once again convicted under Article 342 [organization of mass riots and participation in them]. Now he is free on bail,” she said.

She said she had been living in Georgia for more than a year and did not know that a criminal case was opened against her in her home country.

She said she and a friend had previously traveled to Turkey but this time decided to visit neighboring Armenia.

“We arrived at the border, the border guards took my passport,” she said.

“They took me to one office, then to another — they told me that they had no right to disclose information. [An official] came and said that I was wanted and they took me to the local police.”

She said she was treated well at the police station.

“I left the police station literally an hour and a half ago and still don’t know what’s going on. On [September 3], I will go to Yerevan to see a lawyer, who needs to work to get me permission to leave Armenia. For now, my exit is blocked.”

“In theory, they cannot extradite me, but I’m afraid that security forces may come from Belarus and take me away. I don’t know how realistic that is,” she said.

“Therefore, I have already submitted a request for political asylum in Armenia,” she added.

More than 1,500 political prisoners are currently held in Belarusian prisons, including journalists, human rights activists, and politicians.

Between 200,000 and 500,000 Belarusians fled the country after the crackdown on anti-government protests in 2020.