human rights defender

Marfa Rabkova

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.

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

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