Mikalai Dziadok’s mother: “Two square meters – standard room per prisoner. It’s horrible!”

Almost a month has passed since political prisoner Mikalai Dziadok was confined in so called ‘cell-type premises’ (PKT) in penal colony No. 9 in Horki.

At first, the prisoner was the only inmate in a cell of 5 square meters. But after a few days there appeared another prison

Mikalai Dziadok’s mother has written to the Department of Corrections Ministry to find out what standards of detention conditions in the PKT are provided by the law and if they are not violated in respect of the political prisoner.

“During my visit to the Department of Corrections I learned the standards for cell-type premises and I was shocked. Two square meters per person! As it turns out Mikalai’s cell even has extra meters! Obviously, He was first harassed psychologically, and now they are just physically destroying him,” says the prisoner’s mother.

According to human rights activists, the standard of 2 square meters per person is formally consistent with the Criminal Executive Code of Belarus and enshrined in the Resolution of the Ministry of Interior of 20 October 2000. Unfortunately, as yet, no international legal norms have fixed amount of space per prisoner. Although in its decisions the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly pointed out that the person in custody must have at least 4 square meters, Belarus is no hurry to change the established rules.

Mikalai Dziadok had served 4.5 years in prison for alleged hooliganism on official buildings and had to be released on 3 March 2015. However, on February 26 the court of Lieninski district of Mahilioŭ sentenced the political prisoner under Article 411 of the Criminal Code, "willful disobedience to the prison administration, to one more year of imprisonment in a penal colony. On April 30, the prisoner’s appeal was rejected by a higher court.

On May 12, the political prisoner was transferred to the colony in Horki, where for 42 days out of 50 he was in the punishment cell for "violations of the prison rules" and "refusal to work". After that he was transferred to the PKT.