As part of our #WeStandBYyou campaign Neil Gray (Scottish National Party) is taking on a godparenthood for Yan Papkovich. Neil Gray’s support sends a strong message: Belarusian political prisoners are not forgotten.
Neil Gray
Yan Papkovich was a bank employee at Belgazprombank. He quit his job and wanted to leave for Poland with his wife and brother, but on the evening before his planned departure he was arrested and severely beaten up. His dog was shot by the police. Yan was shown on regime television, in which he was portrayed as a mercenary who wanted to go to war in Ukraine.
Yan was charged with “Violation of public order” (Art. 342) and “Participation in hostilities on foreign soil” (Art. 361-3). In May 2023, he was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment in a penal colony. In early December 2023 the administration of Penal Colony No. 15 initiated criminal proceedings against Yan for maliciously disobeying the colony administration’s legislation.
Neil Gray is a member of the Scottish Parliament (Scottish National Party) and Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in the Scottish Government. He explains his motivation for supporting Yan as follows: “The human rights situation in Belarus remains dire. Whilst I welcome the recent release of some political prisoners, the fact remains that over 1,200 citizens continue to be imprisoned and arbitrary arrests are ongoing. Yan Papkovich is one of those 1,200. He remains unjustly imprisoned and serving a four year sentence, falsely branded as a mercenary for attempting to leave Belarus. The Scottish Government is committed to promoting democracy, human rights and the rule of law both at home and abroad. I hope by participating in this campaign I can shed light on the injustices being suffered in Belarus and I encourage others to join Scotland in unequivocally condemning the abuses carried out by the Lukashenko regime.”
