In a tweet, the head of the Polish government accused the Belarusian authorities of using children as political hostages. "This barbarism must end," he stressed and called on the Belarusian government to hand over their 6-year-old son to Belarusian democratic activists.
I’m shocked and appalled by the news of Belarusian govt. using children as political hostages again. This barbarity must stop. I urge the Belarusian authorities to hand over 6-years-old Artyom to his parents, Elena Lazarchik and Sergei Matskoyt, Belarusian democratic activists!
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) September 19, 2020
On Thursday, the boy's mother was detained as she left the office of the Viasna human rights center in Minsk. She was held for 11 hours. When her son, Artiom. was not picked up from school by 6 p.m., the teachers called social services and the boy was sent to a juvenile center. The school did not contact the boy's father or anyone else in the family. Jelena Łazarczik still has not been reunited with her child. She was not even allowed to see her son, because of the coronavirus restrictions.
