One of the most prominent Belarusian athletes, basketball player Yelena Leuchanka (her achievements include best center of 2010, two-time champion of the Russian Federation, a champion of Lithuania and Poland, a WNBA finalist and a bronze medalist at the European Championship with the national team), was detained at the Minsk airport a week ago. She is accused of “violating the procedures of organizing or holding mass assemblies” – Ms. Leuchanka took part in two demonstrations (on 23 August and 27 September). The charges against the basketball player are based on photos on her Instagram and material published on the website of the sports news outlet “Pressball”. During a hasty trial on the day of her arrest, Ms. Leuchanka was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
According to the WNBPA’s appeal, Leuchanka “was detained for exercising the universal rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly [...] despite her popularity as a top basketball player, or rather because of it’.
“Yelena became the face of the Belarusian athletes’ movement supporting the protests when she was featured last week in international media, - the WNBPA underlined. - She is one of 700 Belarusian athletes who signed an open letter demanding an end to police brutality, and calling for an investigation into the beatings and tortures of peaceful protestors. After Yelena was wrongfully arrested, the athletes have been calling for a nationwide boycott of all sporting events.
We are working with the international players’ movement and experts to ascertain Yelena’s current status and to ensure that the global sports community uses its leverage to facilitate her immediate release and guarantee her safety.
May the collective voice of the WNBPA members and athletes be heard across the globe. We are reaching out to (1) demand Yelena’s immediate release and put an end to any administrative or criminal prosecution; to (2) ensure that her voice and her activism cannot be silenced nor stopped”.
Earlier the Belarusian athletes called for an investigation into the beatings and torture of participants of mass protests in Belarus following the 9 August presidential elections. In addition to Leuchanka, the letter was also signed by basketball player Yegor Mescheriakov, swimmer Aliaksandra Herasimenia, sambo fighter Stepan Popov and other Belarusian sports stars.
The signatories formed SOS_BY, an independent coalition of athletes, and repeatedly participated in mass protests against the results of the presidential elections, which continue to take place across the country on a weekly basis. According to the official data of the Central Election Commission, Alexander Lukashenko won the elections. However, all independent exit polls and public opinion polls indicate that the election was won by Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and the election results were brazenly and shamelessly falsified by officials. The election results caused unanimous indignation on the part of the citizens of Belarus; however, the mass protests were met with brutal dispersal and repression by the security forces.
The Belarusian Sports Solidarity Foundation, which supports Ms. Leuchanka and other athletes, expresses outrage at the instances of pressure on those who openly criticize the Belarusian authorities’ abuse of power. We demand an immediate end to all administrative and criminal proceedings against athletes, as well as the release of political prisoners detained on trumped-up charges and who are still in prison.
