Department of Corrections fails to find any facts of biased attitude to Mikalai Statkevich
Department of Corrections of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus responded to the appeal sent by the educational institution "Center for Legal Transformation" and the Human Rights Center "Viasna" regarding the biased attitude to the political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich on the part of the administration of the penal colony No. 17 in Škloŭ.
As it is stated in the reply, signed by the deputy chief of the Department of Corrections V. Mandryk, "no facts of biased attitude on the part of the administration of the PC No. 17 to the convicted Statkevich were confirmed as a result of fact-checking”. The penalties were applied to the convicted Statkevich in accordance with Articles 112 and 113 of the Criminal Executive Code of the Republic of Belarus (hereinafter - PEC) and the gravity and nature of the violations committed by him."
V. Mandryk also reminded the authors of the appeal that in the future the convict should appeal to the competent state bodies either on his own or through his representative, as according to Art. 12 of the Law "On applications of citizens and legal entities", people who send written inquiries must attach to them the documents which confirm their powers, whereas such documents weren't attached by the educational institution "Center for Legal Transformation" and the Human Rights Center "Viasna".
The letter explains that, in accordance with the provisions of part 2 of Article 22 of PEC, media representatives and other persons have the right to visit penal institutions, on permission of their administration or the relevant higher authorities.
Unfortunately, the representative of the Department of Corrections says nothing about the fact that it is virtually impossible to obtain such permissions for independent media and human rights activists.
Let us remind that the political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich is standing a trial at penal colony No. 17 in Škloŭ today. As a result, the regime of penalty can be toughened for him – he can be again sent to a cell-type penal facility.
