Ukraine deports ex-political prisoner Frantskevich to Belarus

Alyaksandr Frantskevich / Belsat
Alyaksandr Frantskevich / Belsat

Former political prisoner Alyaksandr Frantskevich was detained by Ukraine Security Service (SBU) on the evening of June 18 and deported to Belarus during the night, journalist Yauheniya Douhaya writes on Facebook.

"Ex-political prisoner Alyaksandr Frantskevich was detained by SBU in Kiev yesterday evening and got deported to the Republic of Belarus at 3 a.m. on June 19,” she said.

Frantskevich is an activist of the anarchist movement. He was sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment on charges of heinous hooliganism, damage to property and unauthorized access to digital information in 2011. He and four of his fellow anarchists were also detained on charges of arson of the Russian Embassy and the detention center in Akrestsina Street earlier. Rights defenders announced Franstkevich a political prisoner.

The young man was released in September 2013 and left for Kiev in 2015. He received a residence permit there and started working as a programmer. He preserved his connection with anarchists. SBU started exercising pressure of him, Frantskevich told Belarusian journalists in 2018.