Marfa Rabkova, 28, is a Belarusian human rights activist and part of the Viasna Human Rights Centre.

In 2020 Rabkova volunteered with the Viasna Human Rights Centre over the course of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election. At the start of the mass protests, she began to document evidence of torture and abuse by the Belarusian authorities. She was detained on 17 September 2020. On 19 September 2021 she was transferred to SIZO No. 1 in Minsk. Several Belarusian human rights groups recognized her as a political prisoner. International human rights organizations Amnesty International, Front Line Defenders, and the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders demanded her immediate release. Bundestag member Agnieszka Brugger became her “godfather”. In the pre-trial prison her health worsened; she complained about abdominal pain, tooth pain, and inflammation of the lymph nodes but did not get adequate medical treatment. According to her husband, she lost 20kg in prison, contracted COVID-19, and started to experience fainting and low blood pressure. She also wasn’t allowed to attend her father’s funeral.

Initially, Rabkova was charged under article 293 of the Criminal Code (part 3, “Training or other preparation of persons for participation in mass riots, or financing of this activity”). On 11 February 2021 she was charged with two other articles — 130 (“Incitement to hatred”) and 285 (part 2, “Participation in a criminal organization”). Based on these charges, she faced the possibility of being imprisoned for up to 12 years.

In 2021 Rabkova was awarded the Homo Homini Award together with three other arrested Belarusian human rights activists.

On September 6, 2022, Rabkova was sentenced to 15 years in a general-security penal colony and a fine of 22,400 Belarusian rubles (more than $8,800). On February 28, 2023, the Supreme Court changed the final sentence for Rabkova into 14 years and 9 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.