Belarusian human rights defenders Nasta Loika, Marfa Rabkova, and Valiantsin Stefanovich pardoned and deported to Lithuania

On 19 March 2026, Belarusian authorities released and pardoned approximately 250 political prisoners, among them women human right defenders Nasta Loika and Marfa Rabkova and human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovich. Together with twelve other political prisoners, they were de facto deported from Belarus to Lithuania without identification documents and without the choice to remain in Belarus. This release resulted from negotiations between the United States and Belarus, which led to the U.S. lifting sanctions on several Belarusian state-owned or state-affiliated enterprises. These sanctions had been imposed for the severe human rights violations committed by Belarusian authorities during the protests following the 2020 presidential elections.

Nasta Loika is a prominent Belarusian woman human rights defender working in the field of human rights education. Her work addresses Belarus’s repressive “anti-extremist” laws and she advocates for the rights and protection of migrants and stateless people in Belarus. In the summer of 2021, the Belarusian authorities shut down the organisation where Nasta Loika previously worked, Human Constanta, an organisation which promoted public interests and joint actions in response to modern challenges in the field of human rights. The shutdown was part of an orchestrated attack against civil society in Belarus.

Nasta Loika had been detained since September 2022. In June 2023, the Minsk City Court sentenced the woman human rights defender to seven years in prison. The Court found her guilty of “incitement of racial, national, religious or other social enmity or discord” as per Article 130, Part 3 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

Maria Rabkova is a woman human rights defender and coordinator of the Volunteer Service at Human Rights Centre ‘Viasna’ (HRC Viasna). Her human rights activities involve monitoring the peaceful manifestations resulting from the 2020 Presidential election results and documenting cases of torture and other ill-treatment against detained protesters.

Marfa Rabkova had been in detention since September 2020. In September 2022, the Minsk City Court sentenced the woman human rights defender to 15 years of prison and fined her for violating ten Articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus: "organizing mass riots" (Article 293(1)), "preparing for participation in mass riots" (Article 293(1.13, 2)), "preparing others for participation in mass riots" (Article 293 (3)), "establishment and leading a criminal organization" (Article 285(1)), calling for action against the national security of Belarus" (Article 361(3))," establishing an extremist group" (Article 361-1(1)), "incitement of other social hatred by a group of people" (Article 130(3)), "malicious hooliganism" and "particularly malicious hooliganism" (Article 339(2) and 339(3)), "desecration of structures and damage to property" (Article 341). The hearing was held behind closed doors.

Valiantsin Stefanovich is a prominent human rights defender from Belarus, board member of HRC ‘Viasna’, and the vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). Valiantsin Stefanovich is an expert analyst in human rights and has campaigned for the abolishment of the death penalty in Belarus. He also participated in the OSCE election monitoring missions.

Valiantsin Stefanovich had been arbitrarily detained since July 2021. In March 2023, he was sentenced to eleven years of prison for “smuggling” (Article 228.4 of the Criminal Code of Belarus) and “financing of group actions grossly violating public order” (of the Criminal Code of Belarus).

Front Line Defenders welcomes the release of Nasta Loika, Marfa Rabkova and Valiantsin Stefanovich. However, the organisation reiterates that all three human rights defenders were detained on unfounded charges and solely in retaliation for their peaceful and legitimate human rights work. Front Line Defenders condemns the actions of the Belarusian authorities, particularly the of detention human rights defenders and their use as a leverage in negotiations for relief from sanctions.