Swiss-Belarusian detainee feels ‘well’, embassy reports
Natallia Hersche, the Swiss-Belarusian dual national held in Belarus for taking part in anti-government protests, has been visited by a senior Swiss foreign ministry official, who reports she is in good health.
“Natallia is feeling well and sends greetings and words of gratitude to all who support her,” the Swiss embassy in the Republic of Belarus wrote on its Facebook page on January 12.
The Swiss deputy head of mission in Belarus, John Ruhoff, visited her at the Mogilev prison on January 11, Swiss ambassador to Belarus, Claude Altermatt, said on Twitter on Thursday.
Besuch des Geschäftsträgers a.i. der Schweiz in Belarus bei Natallia Hersche am 11.1.21 im Stadtgefängnis von Mogilew => https://t.co/ENhXROCwpeExternal link
— Claude Altermatt (@SwissAmbBelarus) January 13, 2022External link
Hersche is being held in Mogilev, in eastern Belarus, after being moved from a penal colony in Gomel, in the southeast. She is serving a 30-month jail term.
The 52-year-old was arrested in Minsk on September 19, 2020, and sentenced in December that year for taking part in anti-government protests in the Belarusian capital.
The government of President Alexander Lukashenko unleashed a sweeping crackdown on post-election protests, the biggest of which attracted up to 200,000 people. Human rights activists say more than 30,000 people have been detained and thousands beaten.
In January, a Swiss journalist was also briefly arrested by security forces in the streets of Minsk.
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