An LGBTQ activist in Belarus who joined protests against her country’s authoritarian president has been arrested. Unit, a group that describes itself as “a network of journalists telling the stories of marginalized people in the post-Soviet states,” on Saturday said on its Twitter page that Vika Biran was taken into custody at a protest in the Belarusian capital of Minsk.
Unit said authorities brought Biran to a police station after her arrest. Unit in another tweet said Biran was transferred to Minsk’s Okrestina jail.
Unit on Monday said a judge sentenced Biran to 15 days in jail for “violation of the procedure for organizing or holding mass events.” “She appears to be unharmed and unbroken,” Unit told the Washington Blade.