Political prisoner Dashkevich receives rape threats

“Young Front” reports about hideous facts of pressure on the political prisoner. Zmitser Dashkevich has been on hunger strike for the seventh day in a punishment cell of the Mazyr penal colony.

The reason for the hunger strike became known today. It is cruel treatment from Mazyr penal colony administration, including prison warden Yury Zbarouski.

The “Young Front” press service reports the prison warden began to insult Dashkevich using obscene words as he met him for the first time. Zbarouski threatened the “Young Front” leader would spend his whole prison term in a punishment cell.

The political prisoner has been in the Mazyr penal colony only for a week, but prison board already had several meetings on his issue, deprived him of all visits and gave him a reprimand.

According to “Young Front”, a prison officer found a blade on the table in the barrack for 40 prisoners. Dashkevich was moved to the barrack only recently and it wasn't his blade, but the colony administration threatens to label him as an inmate inclined to commit suicide.

Zmitser Dashkevich filed an application announcing his hunger strike. The chief of the disciplinary department crumpled it and threw away threatening the “Young Front” leader would be raped by other inmates.

After these incidents, Zmitser refused to fulfill any orders. He again appeared before the prison board and got another term in the punishment cell. The “Young Front” leader doesn't plan to terminate his hunger strike until the prison staff changes the attitude to him.

“Zmitser Dashkevich has been in this penal colony for only a week. I cannot imagine how it goes further... The disciplinary department head said to me Dashkevich would face even tougher conditions if any information appeared in the media. But I don't see other variants except for voicing out these awful things,” Anastasiya Palazhanka, the fiancée of the political prisoner, says.

Source: charter97.org