Volha Zazulinskaya
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Volha Zazulinskaya | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Occupation | Human rights defender |
| Position held | Representative for Social Issues of the United Transitional Cabinet (2024–) |
Volha Zazulinskaya (Вольга Уладзіміраўна Зазулінская, also Olga Zazulinskaya or Zazulinskaja) is a Belarusian human rights activist.[1][2] She became a member of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus around September 2024, as Representative for Social Policy.[1][3]
Zazulinskaya grew up in Stowbtsy, raised by her mother, who became ill with cancer and died in 2018 or 2019, and her grandmother. Zazulinskaya visited Minsk for part-time jobs around the age of 16, and fully moved to Minsk at the age of 18.[1]
Zazulinskaya studied accounting to please her mother, but found it boring. She trained as a salesperson and worked in sales until 2018.[1]
Activism
Around 2018 or 2019, Zazulinskaya started work at a fund for ill children.[1]
Zazulinskaya was an observer at the 2020 Belarusian presidential election[1] She was a volunteer at the medical camp for victims of police beatings at Okrestina prison following the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests. She stated that "All the people who got out were beaten and had fractures, concussions, [and were] in a terrible psychological state."[2]
After being detained by the Belarusian KGB and her family receiving threats, Zazulinskaya left Belarus in November 2020 with her children. She and her husband divorced in 2021, which Zazulinskaya attributed to differences in relation to her intense involvement in helping activists locally and in small towns.[1]
Zazulinskaya worked for the Country for Life Foundation as a copywriter, as coordinator for helping political prisoners, and became its head.[1]