Imprisoned Zmitser Dashkevich transferred to medical unit with pneumonia

Zmitser Dashkevich, chairperson of Malady Front, has been diagnosed with single pneumonia and transferred to the medical unit of Correctional Institution No. 13 in Hlybokaye, Vitsyebsk region, Anastasiya (Nasta) Palazhanka, deputy chairperson of the opposition youth organization, told BelaPAN on Wednesday. 

Ms. Palazhanka, who is engaged to the 31-year-old Dashkevich, and his lawyer visited the prison in Hlybokaye earlier on Wednesday and learned that was moved to the medical unit the day before. 

"The lawyer told me that Zmitser looked and felt rather ill," Ms. Palazhanka said. "Doctors began giving him antibiotics and vitamins intravenously." 

Earlier this month, Mr. Dashkevich was charged with persistently disobeying the prison administration's orders, a charge that may lead to the extension of his prison term by one year. 

Mr. Dashkevich reportedly refused to answer any questions from officers investigating the case and waived his right to legal counsel. 

On March 24, 2011, a district judge in Minsk sentenced Mr. Dashkevich to two years in a minimum-security correctional institution, finding him guilty of "especially malicious hooliganism." 

He was arrested in Minsk on December 18, 2010, on the eve of a scheduled large-scale post-election demonstration, for allegedly beating up two passers-by. 

Speaking during his trial, Mr. Dashkevich said that the incident was a provocation orchestrated by authorities and accused the two alleged victims of giving false testimony. 

In September 2011, he refused an offer of freedom in exchange for asking Alyaksandr Lukashenka for a presidential pardon.