Authorities want mother of political prisoner Zmitser Novik to make him beg pardon
Natallia Novik from Baranavichy told Radio Liberty
that she had a telephone call from the Shklou penal colony, where her son
Zmitser serves his 3.5-year sentence for participating in the December 19
events:
«I heard my son at first, but then another man began to talk. He said hello,
introduced himself and said he wanted my son to sign a petition for pardon. If
he does it, he will be at home in a month or two. As I understood, it was an
officer of the Correction Department or KGB. I did not know what to say to his
proposal and answered that my son should decide himself, because he is an adult
and independent man.”
It is not the first time when Zmitser Novik has been offered to apply for
pardon, but he continues to refuse. Natallia Novik comments on the proposal to
her son:
“We have already got convinced that Lukashenka only promises to free our
children. When they were thrown into a detention facility, Lukashenka said they
would be released after 10 or 15 days, but it did not happen. They had to go
through this detention facility, insults, tortures. My son does not talk about
it, but I feel what he experienced there.”
Zmitser Novik did not admit his guilt and refuses to sign a petition for
pardon.
