In early September, a joint project of Amnesty International and Angelina Jolie was published — a book about children’s rights, “Know your rights and demand them.” The book has been published in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. And most importantly, it has a separate chapter about a Belarusian teenager convicted under the infamous Article 328 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their precursors and analogues) by Vladislav Sharkovsky. The ICCI “Our House” is fighting for Vladislav’s freedom.

The project aims to enable all teenagers to defend their rights, regardless of who they are and where they live. “In prison, it is very important to know that you are not forgotten, and your rights are protected. It is important to know your right to feel protected in Belarus. I believe that no one in the world should be unjustly imprisoned, especially children and teenagers,” the book quotes from a conversation with Vladislav.

Vladislav is a Belarusian teenager who could not find an official job, so he agreed to an offer to cooperate with the ECLIPSE-TNC online store. He became a courier for contactless delivery of aroma mix and smoking compounds. According to the employer, they were not prohibited in Belarus. Vladislav passed an interview, training, registered in a specific program and began distributing mixtures. His girlfriend, Valeria Kupchenya, helped him. After almost two weeks of work, the guy was detained with physical force and the use of handcuffs. You can read the full story of Vladislav Sharkovsky — an expert opinion on his case — on our website.

ICCI “Our House” is sure that the more the world learns about human rights violations in Belarus, the more chances we have to win the war against an unfair and cruel regime. We hope that Belarusian teenagers will have the opportunity to read this book shortly.