International Trade Union Confederation Belarus: Repression stepped up with prison sentences for strikes In an intensification of anti-union repression by the Lukashenko regime, three workers in the town of Zhlobin have been sentenced to prison terms of 2.5 and 3 years. 03-02-2021 Igor Povarov, Alexander Bobrov and Yevgeny Govor have been imprisoned for seeking to organise a strike at the BMZ metals plant on 17 August, 2020. Sharan Burrow, ITUC General Secretary, said: “We denounce this escalation of the attack on the right to strike in Belarus. The authorities show no regard for the right of workers to withdraw their labour, which is enshrined in international law. The international community needs to be strong in supporting the will of workers and indeed all the people of the country.”