For the past five months, this distressing situation has been dragging on with no resolution in sight.
Naturalized British citizen Yulia Fenner was detained by Belarusian security forces at the border when she entered the country from Lithuania in March 2024. Yulia had been involved in charitable work, supporting Belarusian political prisoners who were jailed for taking part in the 2020 protests. Minsk authorities accuse her of financing extremist organizations, but in reality, her so-called “financing of extremism” amounted to nothing more than buying food for prisoners in need.
Yulia was originally from Belarus. Back in the early 2000s, she worked at the British Embassy in Belarus, where she met British embassy staff member Martin Fenner. They married, and since 2004, she has lived permanently in the UK. The couple have two children. Yulia travelled to Belarus with their eldest son, Oliver. However, after her arrest, Oliver was taken from her and temporarily placed in the care of her sister.
Oliver’s father, Martin Fenner, has been tirelessly trying to get permission for his son to leave Belarus and return to the UK, but so far, his efforts have been thwarted by the tangled procedures of Belarusian bureaucracy. Despite everything, Martin remains hopeful that he will be reunited with his son and bring him home. He has repeatedly filed requests with various Belarusian authorities through his lawyer and the British Embassy in Belarus, but so far, they have received no clear response.