The son of politician Anatoly Lebedko, Artyom, was detained in Belarus. Lebedko himself announced this on his Facebook page.
“Today my son was taken away. Only because he is Artem Lebedko, because he is my son. The meanest thing is when they start cracking down on relatives, take your loved ones hostage. that he has nothing to show for this, except that he is the son of his father!” he wrote.
Where and when Artem Lebedko was detained is not specified.
Anatoly Lebedko is a well-known opposition politician. In 2000-2018, he headed the United Civil Party. After that, he opened the European Dialogue Center for Research and Development Forecasts.
In May 2021, Anatoly Lebedko was arrested for 30 days after he came to the court session on the “case of students”. He was accused of participating in an unauthorized mass event under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offenses. In July, security forces searched Lebedko’s house, and in October he was detained. Then he coordinated the work of the Public Constitutional Commission. She was drafting democratic amendments to the 1994 Constitution. Ex-presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya then said that “his detention showed that no constitutional reform is possible under Lukashenka,” and urged not to send “him any proposals, except for one: Lukashenka must leave.”
Now Lebedko is outside Belarus. He is Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s representative for constitutional reform and parliamentary cooperation. In January 2022, a criminal case was opened against him in Belarus.
