Marfa Rabkova: I know exactly who has the power to help political prisoners return to their families, homes, lives
The human rights activist and former political prisoner made an appeal, which was published by the Telegram channel 'Pink Scarves'.
«Hello, Marfa Rabkova speaking. It's May 2026. And I thank God that, recording this video, I can turn on a desk lamp, read a book at my leisure, and go to sleep in a warm bed, knowing that tomorrow I won't have to wake up to the sound of a prison bell,» she says.
«I thank God that tomorrow I will be able to enjoy the warm spring sun, sitting on a bench in the park with a cup of fragrant tea in my hands. Listening to the chirping of birds nearby. Watching the white clouds slowly floating across the sky.
And I am happy with these, seemingly trivial, little things, because just recently all this was inaccessible to me. Just as it is still inaccessible right now for more than a hundred women who are imprisoned in Belarus.
And I know exactly who has the power to help them return to their families, to their homes, to their lives. Direct dialogue between US representatives and the Belarusian state gave us this chance and still allows the doors to normalcy to remain ajar.
Over the past year, thanks to the American negotiation track, hundreds of people have regained freedom. Hundreds of families breathed a sigh of relief. Hundreds of families got the opportunity to continue themselves in their children. Hundreds of families can once again enrich society and the world as a whole.
I hope that the humanitarian track will continue and that more people of goodwill will join it, who will also see value in the swiftest possible release of people and the normalization of the situation in Belarus. Because there is nothing more important than the small life of a small person.
It's May 2026. I am alive and free. I am a small person whose small life was saved," notes Marfa Rabkova.
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Marfa Rabkova, coordinator of the Viasna volunteer service, spent five and a half years behind bars, and was released on March 19, 2026. She was sentenced to 14 years and 9 months under several articles. During her detention, even before the trial, Marfa's grandmother and father died, and she experienced health problems. Investigators repeatedly offered her cooperation: in exchange for admitting guilt, they promised to change her pre-trial detention and release her to her ailing parents. But Marfa remained firm in her position. She did not admit her guilt.
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Comments
Люди ни за что годами гниют в тюрьмах, а вы, сектанты, сидя в своём уютном гетто, будучи в полной безопасности, важно вещаете о "стратегии".
Плевать вам на политических.