Ales Bialiatski: “I am a persistent violator!”

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