human rights defender
Marfa Rabkova
Actions and Campaigns
Marfa Rabkova
HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER
Urgent support needed
Medical assistance
Marfa has thyroid problems and gynaecological issues.
Marfa works in a clothing factory, and she is allergic to certain materials.
Organization affiliation
- Human Rights Center "Viasna"
HRD's year of birth
1995
HRD's Gender
Woman
Type of HRD
- NGO member
HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
HRD's geographical origin
Urban
Current Status
Pardoned
HRD's bio and work
Marfa (Maria) Rabkova is a human rights defender and a coordinator of the volunteer service HRC Viasna. She was detained with her husband, who was later released. Marfa coordinated various election and protest monitoring campaigns; furthermore, she oversaw peaceful assemblies that emerged across Belarus in 2020, due to the fraudulent presidential election results on August 9, 2020. She has been involved in documenting cases of torture and ill-treatment of detained demonstrators since the beginning of the demonstrations during the Belarusian 2020 presidential election campaign.
Marfa is a third-year student at the European Humanities University (EHU), where she is studying International Law and European Union Law. She is known both by the faculty and by her peers as a bright student worthy of praise, she carries herself with modesty and thoughtfulness while always standing up for what she believes in.
Marfa was a volunteer in a cat shelter and helped stray animals. She and her husband have a cat called Morpheus. She loves music and reading. Marfa is a fan of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels series.
Detained since
Sep 17, 2020
Date of release
Mar 19, 2026
Charge(s)
- Creating disturbances
- Damage to public property
- Extremism
- Financing unrest
- Other
- Possession of illegal material
- Subversion
Sentence
14 years and 9 months
Latitude: 52.423
Longitude: 30.994
Geolocation of detention
Country or area of detention
Region of detention
- Europe: Eastern Europe
Location of detention - City/Town
Homieĺ
Location of detention - Facility
Penal colony No. 4. 246035, Homieĺ, vulica Antoshkina 4
Recent case update / evolution
On 19 March 2026, Marfa Rabkova was pardoned and released as part of an agreement between the governments of Belarus and the United States to lift US sanctions on two Belarusian banks, the Ministry of Finance and two fertiliser manufacturers. Upon release, Marfa was deported to Lithuania.
Any other relevant documents
Marfa's state of health https://spring96.org/en/news/111087
Attachments
Documented by
- Country(ies) of nationality
- HRD's year of birth
- 1995
- HRD's Gender
- Woman
- Type of HRD
- NGO member
- HRD's thematic area of engagement
- Civil and political rights
- Organization affiliation
- Human Rights Center "Viasna"
- HRD's Picture
- HRD's bio and work
Marfa (Maria) Rabkova is a human rights defender and a coordinator of the volunteer service HRC Viasna. She was detained with her husband, who was later released. Marfa coordinated various election and protest monitoring campaigns; furthermore, she oversaw peaceful assemblies that emerged across Belarus in 2020, due to the fraudulent presidential election results on August 9, 2020. She has been involved in documenting cases of torture and ill-treatment of detained demonstrators since the beginning of the demonstrations during the Belarusian 2020 presidential election campaign.
Marfa is a third-year student at the European Humanities University (EHU), where she is studying International Law and European Union Law. She is known both by the faculty and by her peers as a bright student worthy of praise, she carries herself with modesty and thoughtfulness while always standing up for what she believes in.
Marfa was a volunteer in a cat shelter and helped stray animals. She and her husband have a cat called Morpheus. She loves music and reading. Marfa is a fan of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels series.
- HRD's geographical origin
- Urban
- Country or area of detention
- Region of detention
- Europe: Eastern Europe
- Location of detention - City/Town
- Homieĺ
- Location of detention - Facility
- Penal colony No. 4. 246035, Homieĺ, vulica Antoshkina 4
- Geolocation of detention
Latitude: 52.423
Longitude: 30.994
- Geolocation of detention
- Detained since
- Sep 17, 2020
- Current Status
- Pardoned
- Date of release
- Mar 19, 2026
- Charge(s)
- Creating disturbances
- Damage to public property
- Extremism
- Financing unrest
- Other
- Possession of illegal material
- Subversion
- Sentence
14 years and 9 months
- Recent case update / evolution
On 19 March 2026, Marfa Rabkova was pardoned and released as part of an agreement between the governments of Belarus and the United States to lift US sanctions on two Belarusian banks, the Ministry of Finance and two fertiliser manufacturers. Upon release, Marfa was deported to Lithuania.
- Protection actions and campaigns
- Urgent support needed
Medical assistance
Marfa has thyroid problems and gynaecological issues.
Marfa works in a clothing factory, and she is allergic to certain materials.
- Any other relevant documents
Marfa's state of health https://spring96.org/en/news/111087
- Documented by
- Consent status
- Consent to register, store and publish the information
Supporting files
sorted by
Date added
23 relationships, 22 entities