Kazulin Met with Wife and Daughters

Alexander Kazulin has had his first meeting with wife and daughters while in Vitebsk jail. RFE/RL reports, the former presidential candidate still plans to begin a hunger-strike of protest in 3 days. He hopes for an international response to his action.

“My husband lost even more weight. He has a slight fever. However, he is determined to start a hunger strike on October 20”, -- said Iryna Kazulina after 3-hour meeting with her husband.

By a hunger-strike Alexander Kazulin will protest against illegitimate president Alexander Lukashenka. Iryna Kazulina says:

“As far as I understood, he really hopes for the voice of international organizations. I directly asked him: when would you stop your hunger-strike? He answered he would stop it when Belarus issue is raised at the United Nations”.

Iryna Kazulina says the conditions in the jail where her husband is kept are “not the best”. She says, the food in Vitebsk jail is better than in Zhodzina or Minsk detention centers. However, the rest is practically the same.

“There are no conditions to write letters, for example. It is not convenient to write sitting on a bed, and there are no tables. The cell is not lit enough, so next time we will bring an extra lamp for him. There is one TV set for a huge number of people. They have different interests, so he never watches TV”, -- says Iryna.

In his earlier letter Alexander Kazulin wrote that he didn’t watch TV because he didn’t believe the state channels which are the only channels available for the prisoners.

The job of the former rector of the Belarusian State University is to hand out quilted jackets and other stuff to the prisoners. At the same time, he came to the meeting in wet boots. On the eve of the meeting he washed his boots; and there is no possibility to dry them anywhere. Iryna Kazulina said she had brought medicine to her husband which she hopes would help him to recover from a cold.

According to Iryna Kazulina, her husband gets along with other prisoners well. Alexander Kazulin commented his relations with the prison administration by a short phrase: “adaptation continues”.

Let us remind the readers that the former candidate for the

Of the president Alexander Kazulin was arrested on March 25. In July he was sentenced to 5,5 years of jail for hooliganism and organizing mass disorders during the election campaign. The politician does not plead guilty and says that is a politically-motivated persecution. He claims Alexander Lukashenka should be out of office because the election in March was illegitimate. The imprisoned politician calls for new free and fair presidential election in Belarus.