About 10 Belarusians wrote to the Lithuanian migration service requesting to reconsider the case of a Belarusian conscientious objector, Ivan Strashkevich, and to release him from detention in a refugee camp.

To remind, the Belarusian conscientious objector, Ivan Strashkevich, is an ethnic Lithuanian, that once served as a border guard in Belarus. Having served for some time, he got disappointed in the army and decided to give up military service and return to peaceful life. At the beginning of 2019, Ivan left for Poland and then moved to Lithuania on a work visa.

On June 5, 2023, the migration authority of Lithuania refused to extend his work visa on the basis of his prior military service and despite his vigorous anti-war and anti-regime activity. It has also banned him from entering Lithuania and the European Union for the term of 60 months.

On June 6, 2023, Ivan applied for a political asylum and was invited for an interview held on June 14, 2023. However, only 5 hours after the interview on June 14, 2023, Ivan Strashkevich was detained by the migration service and forcefully transferred to the refugee camp, where, on June 16, a trial took place.

Thus, Ivan turned out to be at the refugee camp in Pabradė. His laptop and his phone were seized, he is allowed to use a phone only for 30 minutes a day, and not every day. He is kept in a closed room with barred windows, and he even does not have an opportunity to lodge an appeal, as he has no laptop, no phone and no means of communication with the outer world.

As of today, the court made a decision to keep him in custody at the refugee camp in Pabradė till July 14, 2023.

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