Working Group of Campaign for Protection of Political Prisons Gathered for a Sitting
On 10 October at the office of the BPF Party in Minsk a sitting of the working group of the campaign for protection of political prisoners took place. Participants of the sitting discussed the situation of the youth leaders Zmitser Dashkevich and Pavel Krasouski (whom the investigation accused of serious felonies) and planned a number actions.
The sitting was attended by representatives of the unregistered youth organization Young Front, the BPF Youth, the BPF Party, the Committee on Protection of Victims of Repressions, the UCP, human rights activists and representatives of the entrepreneurs’ movement. Siarhei Lisichonak told the sitting participants about the campaign of support that has been started on the web, flash-mobs in Minsk and Belarusian regions. He also shared his opinion about the future actions: ‘The flash-mob that we organized on Saturday wasn’t a success. There were much more police than participants. It means that in future such actions must be prepared by wide forces, not by single organizations.’
The journalist Henadz Barbarych read a letter from Zmitser Dashkevich where the prisoner’s complaints about the conditions of detention are enumerated. In Dashkevich’s cells there are 15 more prisoners, some of whom are ill with tuberculosis, hepatitis and AIDS. The lawyers of HRC Viasna have already composed an application to the London office of Amnesty International and the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH). Similar applications will be directed to Red Cross, UN and OSCE.
