human rights defender
Yauhen Merkis
Actions and Campaigns
Organization affiliation
- Belsat TV
HRD's year of birth
1986
HRD's Gender
Man
Type of HRD
- Journalist/Blogger
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
Current Status
Pardoned
HRD's bio and work
Yauhen Merkis is a journalist who covered the protests after the 2020 presidential election. He was repeatedly arrested by the police. After several Belarusian independent media outlets were recognized as extremist formations, Merkis chose to engage in local lore activities.
Detained since
Sep 13, 2022
Date of release
Sep 11, 2025
Charge(s)
- Extremism
Sentence
4 years
Latitude: 54.216
Longitude: 30.307
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Europe: Eastern Europe
Location of detention - City/Town
Škloŭ
Location of detention - Facility
Penal colony No. 17. 213004, Škloŭ, vulica 1-ja Zavodskaja 8
Recent case update / evolution
On September 11, 2025, it was revealed that 52 prisoners of the Belarusian regime had been forcibly transferred to Lithuania. Yauhen Merkis was among those released.
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