Ales Bialiatski: “I am a persistent violator!”
Back in the middle of June the
imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski wrote in
his letter to Valiantsin Stefanovich: “It seems to me that the reprimands I
have received are not the last ones”. The new information from Babruisk, where
Ales is currently kept, confirms these words. Thus, in his letter to Valiantsin
Stefanovich of 5 August he writes about more reprimands, issued to him by the
administration of penal colony #2.
Ales writes: “It happens so that I continue violating the “Rules of behavior of
prisoners”. Last week an act was composed and I was deprived of another parcel,
and today [on 5 August] they have registered my bringing out food from the
canteen (I took away a piece of bread from the supper), which means that
tomorrow they will most probably compose an act. The last week's punishment was
given for curtaining my sleeping place. The both things are violations of the
Rules, that's why I fail to be an ideal prisoner...”.
In fact, there is nothing extraordinary in the reasons for the issue of
reprimands, quoted by Bialiatski. In particular, the head of the informational
and educational institution “Platform” Andrei Bandarenka recalls that during
his stay at the Babruisk colony many prisoners took away bread from the canteen
and it didn't bother anyone. It means that the prison administration
demonstrates a clearly biased attitude towards Bialiatski, subjecting him to
psychological pressurization.
This year Ales Bialiatski has been issued with three reprimands, as a result of
which he can have just one-day meeting with relatives (instead of the three
days allowed to ordinary prisoners) and receive up to 15 kilos of food a month
from them instead of 30 kilos. Moreover, he is not allowed to receive
additional 5 kilos of fruit and vegetables during the summer period.
Recently, Ales has been deprived of a food parcel. He tries to be steadfast in
adversity and even tries to joke, which is witnessed by the cartoon he draw on
the tag of the mittens he has to wrap in the colony.
