Ales Bialiatski: “I am a persistent violator!”

Submitted by admin on Sun, 08/12/2012 - 13:33

Back in the middle of June the imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski wrote in his letter to Valiantsin Stefanovich: “It seems to me that the reprimands I have received are not the last ones”. The new information from Babruisk, where Ales is currently kept, confirms these words. Thus, in his letter to Valiantsin Stefanovich of 5 August he writes about more reprimands, issued to him by the administration of penal colony #2.

Ales writes: “It happens so that I continue violating the “Rules of behavior of prisoners”. Last week an act was composed and I was deprived of another parcel, and today [on 5 August] they have registered my bringing out food from the canteen (I took away a piece of bread from the supper), which means that tomorrow they will most probably compose an act. The last week's punishment was given for curtaining my sleeping place. The both things are violations of the Rules, that's why I fail to be an ideal prisoner...”.

In fact, there is nothing extraordinary in the reasons for the issue of reprimands, quoted by Bialiatski. In particular, the head of the informational and educational institution “Platform” Andrei Bandarenka recalls that during his stay at the Babruisk colony many prisoners took away bread from the canteen and it didn't bother anyone. It means that the prison administration demonstrates a clearly biased attitude towards Bialiatski, subjecting him to psychological pressurization.

This year Ales Bialiatski has been issued with three reprimands, as a result of which he can have just one-day meeting with relatives (instead of the three days allowed to ordinary prisoners) and receive up to 15 kilos of food a month from them instead of 30 kilos. Moreover, he is not allowed to receive additional 5 kilos of fruit and vegetables during the summer period.

Recently, Ales has been deprived of a food parcel. He tries to be steadfast in adversity and even tries to joke, which is witnessed by the cartoon he draw on the tag of the mittens he has to wrap in the colony.


http://spring96.org/en/news/55663

News of Belarus

Raman Kisliak applies against inclusion in lawbreakers' database

Submitted by admin on Tue, 11/13/2012 - 20:48

Тhe unlawful inclusion of the human rights defender in this database by the police became the reason for his detention and subsequent fingerprinting on 8 November.

In the appeal, filed by Raman Kisliak t the head of the Leninski District Police Department of Brest, it is stated that the inclusion him in the database of lawbreakers by officers of the Leninski DPD is unlawful, as far as they have neither addressed him in connection with the procedure of dactylography nor presented him any administrative charges lately.

Show solidarity with ARCHE!

Submitted by admin on Tue, 11/06/2012 - 22:33

“ARCHE” is the only thick monthly magazine in the Belarusian language which has been regularly issued since 1998. However, the events that have been taking place since the arrest of it’s the then chief editor Valer Bulhakau can put a cross on the further existence of the edition.

Belarus: PACE committee proposes the nomination of Ales Bialiatski for the 2013 PACE Human Rights Prize

Submitted by admin on Fri, 10/05/2012 - 20:24

Strasbourg, 04.10.2012 – In a statement adopted today in Strasbourg, the Committee on Political Affairs and Democracy of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) announced its unanimous decision to support the proposal by Andres Herkel (Estonia, EPP/CD), rapporteur on the situation in Belarus, to nominate Ales Bialiatski – the human rights defender sentenced on 24 November 2011 to four and a half years’ imprisonment – for the 2013 PACE Human Rights Prize.