Representative of commission for supervision over penitentiary institutions meets with Ales Bialiatski

On 5 June the member of the board of the civil association “Mahiliou Human Rights Center” Viktar Sidarenka paid a visit to Babruisk penal colony #2 to meet with the convicted human rights defender Ales Bialiatski.

Mr. Sidarenka got this opportunity because he is the head of the public commission for supervision over penitentiary institution at the Main Bureau of the Mahiliou City Executive Committee.

The reason for the meeting was the appeal of human rights defender Nasta Loika in connection with the fact that Ales Bialiatski didn’t receive some mail correspondence. The justice department allowed the commission to check this information. Viktar Sidarenka says that the meeting lasted for about 30 minutes in presence of representatives of the colony’s administration.

“Ales Bialiatski stated that everything was relatively well, the nutrition in the colony was not bad. He still works as a wrapper at sewing industry. We weren’t allowed to talk eye to eye, though they were to have done it according to the law. Moreover, Ales wasn’t allowed to fill our questionnaire. Ales would have probably told something interesting if we were left tête-à-tête,” says Viktar Sidarenka.

According to him, the colony administration created a special register for Ales’s incoming and outgoing mail correspondence. Ales Bialiatski usually receives 4-5 letters a week, sometimes this number reaches 10.

The report of the public commission concerning results of the visit to the colony will be submitted to the penal department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and human rights defender Nasta Loika.

Bear in mind that the well-known Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski was sentenced to 4.5 years of imprisonment by the Pershamaiski District Court of Minsk. Judge Siarhei Bandarenka found him guilty of evasion from taxes on an especially high scale and sentenced him to imprisonment with confiscation of assents.