Yury Rubtsou is keeping hunger strike in solitary confinement

As it became known to the Human Rights Centre "Viasna", the criminal case against Yury Rubtsou under Article 415 of the Criminal Code, "avoidance of serving punishment in the form of restriction of liberty", was instituted back on March 18.

He was taken into custody only on April 6. The formal reason for the criminal case are the four refusals from employment, registered by the administration of the open correctional facility where he was serving the penalty.

Mr. Rubtsou refused to work because of the low wages offered by the employers and asked to be provide with a job with the average wage stated by the authorities – about 600 US dollars. The political prisoner has declared a hunger-strike and is not going to stop it. He believes that bringing the new criminal case against him is as illegal as the old one, under which he is now serving a term of personal restraint for “insulting a judge”.

At present the political prisoner is kept in the temporary detention center in Pružany where he is kept in solitary confinement and is not taken out for walks. Soon he will be transferred to the remand prison in Baranavičy.

At the end of next week Yu. Rubtsou can be familiarized with the case, after which it will be passed to the prosecutor's office. He faces up to three years in prison.