Marina Petrazhitskaya

Marina Petrazhitskaya, a 62-year-old educator and former deputy director of a Minsk gymnasium, was sentenced to two years in a penal colony for her involvement in what authorities deemed an 'extremist formation'. She has a background in mathematics and graduated from the Belarusian State Pedagogical University in 1984. Petrazhitskaya was previously arrested in July 2021, receiving a 15-day detention after a police raid at her home, which was followed by her questioning by the KGB. Her dismissal from the school occurred under unclear circumstances, but her activism has drawn significant attention amid Belarus's political turmoil.