Julia Fenner has dual citizenship - Belarusian and British.
In the early 2000s, Julia worked at the British Embassy in Minsk. She married Martin Fenner, the Deputy Head of Mission. After Belarus, the family lived in Turkmenistan and Yekaterinburg, Russia, where Martin was posted.
The woman was detained at the border on March 31, 2024, while trying to enter Belarus. She was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: Article 342 (active participation in actions that grossly violate public order) and Parts 1 and 2 of Article 361-4 (assistance to extremist activity). However, the essence of the charges is unknown to human rights activists. The detainee was placed in a pretrial detention center pending trial.
As a result, on August 21 of this year, Yulia was sentenced to seven years in prison.
On September 11, 2025, it became known that 52 political prisoners of the Belarusian regime were forcibly transferred to the territory of Lithuania. Among them are citizens of European countries . Among those released is Julia Fenner.
