Irina Bogdanova demonstrates as Jude Law looks on
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Aldershot woman crusades to free brother
By Stephanie CockroftJanuary 12, 2012
A DOCTOR who is working tirelessly to free her brother from political imprisonment in Belarus is calling on the community for support.
Irina Bogdanova’s brother, Andrei Sannikov, was one of the hundreds of people who were detained in KGB jails by riot police following the country’s 2010 election.
Andrei had been one of the brave men who stood against dictator President Alexander Lukashenko in the election, which was later judged by international observers to be rigged.
After her brother’s arrest, and the shock five-year imprisonment that followed, Irina knew she had to do something to fight for the human rights of political prisoners.
According to Irina, her bro-ther is being tortured in prison, in interrogation rooms that remain unchanged since their use under communist rule.
So the mother-of-two from Aldershot set up Free Belarus Now, a charity that is working to highlight the plight of the 50 people who remained behind bars after the election.
The cause has been backed by actors Kevin Spacey and Jude Law (pictured, right, with Irina), as well as playwright Tom Stoppard.
Irina, 53, said the campaign had grown beyond her expectations.
She said: “I have been living in the UK for years, unaffected by politics and having no active part in anything like campaigns. But when this happened, I knew I could not sit back and do nothing.
“I thought my brother would be free by now and I had no idea the campaign would need to go on this long.
“But now I have started, I cannot just stop until the message has got across.”
Irina believes her 57-year-old brother is being punished for daring to stand against President Lukashenko, who has ruled the country since 1994.
She said her husband’s wife Irina Khalip, an investigative journalist, was also imprisoned after the elections.
She was released after 40 days in custody but remained living under house arrest for five months, Irina said.
More local support
The couple’s son, who was three years old at the time of his parents’ arrests, was apparently also placed into an orphanage after they were detained.
Irina said: “Our campaign is fighting for these people and fighting for the human rights they do not have. We can’t just stand and watch people being killed and tortured.”
Since her campaign started about a year ago, Irina said 25 of the prisoners have been released. But, she claims they are still restricted in their day-to-day activities, either by being under police surveillance or isolated from society.
Irina, who moved to Alder-shot five-and-a-half years ago, said one of the main aims of the campaign is to show those in Britain what is going on in parts of neighbouring Europe.
She said: “I don’t know why, but the human rights issues in Belarus are not well-reported. People do not know the true story.
“But can you imagine Gordon Brown being arrested when he did not win the election? Of course you can’t, because it’s not the sort of thing that happens in a democracy.”
Along with around 15 other volunteers, Irina travels across the country making speeches and talking to ministers about her campaign.
Although trained as a doctor, Irina moved into alternative medicine and now runs an acupuncture clinic from her home in York Crescent.
But she has dramatically reduced her working hours so that she can dedicate more time to Free Belarus Now.
She said the group needed more local support if it were to keep going.
She said: “We have done events in London but I would really like to do some in this area and raise awareness.
“It would be such a great help if we knew the local community could support us.”
For information, visit www.freebelarusnow.org or e-mail irina@freebelarusnow.org
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