February 26, 2026: Belarusian CO Siarhei files a renewed asylum application in Lithuania
Belarusian conscientious objector Siarhei seeks protection again after repeated asylum refusals in Lithuania.
26 February 2026 marks an important moment in Siarhei’s case.
We submitted a renewed application for political asylum in Lithuania for Siarhei, a Belarusian conscientious objector who has previously been labelled a “threat to national security” in Lithuania. His photo is attached to this email.
This is a difficult and emotional step for him. This time, however, he is not going to the Lithuanian Migration Department alone. A Lithuanian lawyer – hired thanks to your support – is accompanying him, attending the interview and protecting his rights throughout the procedure. The lawyer’s presence is essential to reduce the risk of arbitrary decisions, procedural violations, or attempts at sudden deportation. Siarhei currently remains undocumented in Lithuania, and the risks around a repeat asylum application are real.
Why is legal representation especially important?
Siarhei was declared a national security risk because of his past military service in Belarus. Yet this fact cannot be understood without context.
He comes from a family of career military officers. His great-grandfathers, grandfather, father, and elder brother all served in the military. At the age of sixteen, his father sent him to a military academy – a decision made for him at an age when refusal was nearly impossible. After graduation, Belarusian law required him to serve in the army for several years, and leaving earlier could result in penalties and persecution.
Despite this, he later made a conscious and difficult decision to leave military service, breaking with a long-standing family tradition and facing strong pressure from relatives. He rebuilt his life, retrained as a welder, and adopted a clear non-violent and anti-militarist position.
During the 2020 protests in Belarus, he supported change through peaceful means. While working at the construction site of the Ostrovets nuclear power plant, he became one of the organizers of a strike committee and participated in protests opposing the project, which many consider a major risk for the region and which is located only around 30 kilometers from Vilnius.
Nevertheless, his early military past – shaped by family expectations and legal obligations – was later used against him in Lithuania. Despite clearly demonstrating a conscious rejection of militarism and violence, his asylum applications were denied.
For more than a year, Siarhei has lived in extremely difficult conditions – without documents, without access to healthcare, and forced to hide in our shelter while being actively sought by migration authorities and border guards. Thanks to your support, we are now able to provide professional legal protection during this renewed asylum procedure. For him, this is the only way to legalize his stay in Lithuania and avoid deportation to a Belarusian prison.
Even with a lawyer, the situation remains serious. There is a real possibility that he could be placed in a closed refugee detention facility, and we may again need to fight for his release in Lithuania.
Still, legal representation significantly reduces the risk of arbitrary decisions and gives him a real chance for a fair hearing.
Siarhei goes into this process supported, protected, and aware that many people stand behind his right not to take up arms and not to be forced back into the Belarusian military system.
Thank you for making this legal defense possible.
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