Uladzimir Kondrus’s father: “We are shocked. He’s half dead” Updated
Minsk prison in Valadarski Street
On August 9, the parents of Uladzimir Kondrus, another person charged of involvement in the December 2010 rioting case, were allowed, for the first time in two months, to visit their son at the detention center in Minsk.
According to them, Uladzimir Kondrus, 39, is in critical condition. He could only speak for five minutes during the visit, his father told Viasna.
“We are shocked. He’s half dead. They carried him on a stretcher into the meeting room. He could only speak for five minutes. He’s exhausted. His speech was extremely inarticulate. As I was looking at him, it seemed that he was in a daze, not realizing what was going on. His eyes were blank,” he said.
Uladzimir Kondrus has been on a hunger strike to protest against his detention, which caused a sharp deterioration in his health. According to his parents, despite his strong position, he finally had to ask for medical assistance.
“He asked us to help him have an EGD done. The thing is that he has an ulcer, and for this reason he was not taken into the army. Now he spits blood. Obviously, he has an active ulcer. Meanwhile, the priosn hospital does not help him at all, saying that they “do not provide such assistance.” He asked for analgesic, and they did not give it to him. It is terrible to say this today... When we were in jail, his mother tearfully asked to transfer him to a regular hospital. Our son needs urgent help,” says he.
Uladzimir Kondrus has been in detention since June 14. He is accused of involvement in the riots outside the Government House during the presidential elections in 2010. Kondrus is charged under Article 293 of the Criminal Code, ‘rioting’. 49 people were convicted under the article in 2011, many of them were sentenced to various prison terms.
On August 10, Uladzimir Kondrus' parents told human rights activists that their son had been transferred to the prison hospital, which is located on the territory of the jail. According to the doctor, he persuaded the prisoner to stop the hunger strike.
