News on the topic: political prisoners
10.04.2014 Mikalai Statkevich's father fears he won't see his son anymore
Baranavichy activists Viktar Syrytsa, Siarhei Housha, Anzhalika Kambalava and Mikalai Antanovich have paid a visit to Viktar Syrytsa, the father of the political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich.
09.04.2014 30 facts about political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich
Mr. Autukhovich is a Belarusian entrepreneur, sentenced to 62 months in jail for alleged storing and trafficking five fire cartridges, whereas the real reason was his struggle against corruption. We decided to remind about the most important facts from his life.
08.04.2014 Political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich released from jail
In prison, he was twice offered to write a petition for clemency to Lukashenka. The political prisoner refused to do it, not to be mocked for his “weakness” afterwards.
08.04.2014 Political prisoner Eduard Lobau has problems with mail correspondence
Not all the letters come through from Eduard Lobau, who is serving imprisonment term in the penal colony number 22 in Ivatsevichy.
04.04.2014 International human rights defenders: Journalists must testify about what is happening in Belarus
Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of Civil Rights Defenders, Maina Kiai, UN Special Rapporteur on the right of freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, and Margaret Sekaggya, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights Defenders, have addressed journalists during the Defenders' Days conference, which is currently underway in Sweden: "Every journalist who find themselves in an authoritarian country such as Belarus must have an obligation to stand up for free speech and report on human rights violations in such a country."
28.03.2014 Mikalai Autukhovich loses complaint against prison penalties
On the morning of March 28, Judge Zhanna Krauchanka of Hrodna’s Leninski District Court dismissed a complaint by political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich, Radio Free Europe’s Belarus service reports.
18.03.2014 Mikalai Autukhovich to face police supervision after release
A court session was held today in Hrodna prison to address the possibility of subjecting political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich to preventive police supervision after his release due on 8 April. The prisoner’s lawyer was not able to attend the trial, having received the notice only half an hour ahead of it.
15.03.2014 Aliaksandr Artsybashau and Pavel Vinahradau sentenced to large arrest terms
The activists of “Zmena” (the youth wing of “Tell the Truth”) were detained on March 13. Artsybashau drove to the office of the police inspection, where ex-political prisoner Vinahradau came for regular registration.
15.03.2014 Candidates Illia Dabratvor and Anatol Zhylko get detained near the detention center in Akrestsin Street
March 14, Minsk police detained a candidate of the Belarusian Popular Front for the local councils, Illia Dabratvor, and a candidate of the United Civil Party, Anatol Zhylko, near the detention center in Akrestsin Street, where they were meeting ex-political prisoner Zmitser Dashkevich and Yauhen Tsikhanau, who were released after serving 12-day arrest terms for an action of protest against the Russian intervention in the Ukraine.
13.03.2014 Navapolattsk activists apply for picketing on Freedom Day
In Navapolatsk, representatives of political parties and democratic civil society organizations filed an application for a picket on Freedom Day, March 25.
11.03.2014 Political prisoner Uladzimir Yaromenak released from detention facility
Last August, Minsk's Pershamaiski district court found Yaromenak guilty of violating the rules of preventive supervision and sentenced him to three months in detention. Uladzimir and his lawyer appealed against the court decision, but the Minsk city court upheld the ruling. Yaromenak was taken into custody on December 11.
11.03.2014 Political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich is kept in solitary confinement
Former presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich is not sure of his safety in prison. He asked to be moved to a solitary cell. He wrote it to his wife Maryna Adamovich, RFE/RL reports.
05.03.2014 Uladzimir Makei speaks about the fate of Belarusian political prisoners
March 1, Foreign Minister of Belarus Uladzimir Makei gave an interview to the news agency BNS (Baltic News Service) in Vilnius. Here's the full text of the interview, posted on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.
03.03.2014 Political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich applies for safe confinement conditions
The application was caused by frequent provocations against the political prisoner. Mikalai Statkevich thinks he faces more provocations due to the deteriorating economic situation in the country and the authorities' desire to make him apply for clemency.
27.02.2014 Political prisoner Andrei Haidukou meets parents in prison
The family of Andrei Haidukou, who is serving a sentence in Mahiliou penal colony No. 19, have had a long meeting with the prisoner. This was reported by his mother Volha Haidukova. "My husband and I are returning from Mahiliou. The meeting was O.K. Andrei feels well, his mood is good, too. We were there for three days: we arrived on Friday afternoon and now we are driving back," she said.
