ANDREI LIUBETSKI
The 47-year-old plastic surgeon has been in custody since May on accusations of insulting the president.
Liubetski has worked in a children’s hospital in the capital, Minsk, for 18 years. If convicted, he could receive a five-year sentence.
During the mass demonstrations triggered by Lukashenko’s reelection, Liubetski volunteered to provide medical attention for protesters who were beaten by police. He also criticized authorities on Facebook, calling for corruption, abuse of power and political repression to end.
“This government is already dead,” Liubetski wrote on Facebook. “All those who were involved in falsifications, abuses and other crimes should better prepare their guilty plea.”
The doctor’s wife fled Belarus with the couple’s four children.
The 24-year-old student activist was sentenced to 2½ years in prison last month for organizing a student strike.
Gebremariam, who led the Association of Belarusian Students, was arrested in October along with dozens of others following a wave of student strikes across the country. She was accused of “organizing actions that rudely violate public order.”
“A great force is hidden inside each of us, and it will eventually knock down all obstacles in the way of changes,” Gebremariam said in a Facebook post shortly before her arrest. “A desire for freedom and justice can’t be locked or taken away. That force is always inside us — in every word, every step and every thought.”