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

President welcomes the release of Ales Bialiatski

Submitted by admin on Sat, 06/21/2014 - 00:00

Today, Ales Bialiatski, a prominent Belarusian human rights defender who became the first laureate of the Vaclav Havel Human Rights Prize in 2013, was released from prison after spending almost three years behind bars.

Commission Starts Negotiations of Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements with Belarus

Submitted by admin on Tue, 02/04/2014 - 00:00

Commission DG for Home Affairs, Stefano Manservisi and Belarus Deputy Foreign Minister Alena Kupchyna met in Brussels to launch the negotiations on Visa Facilitation and Readmission Agreements between the EU and Belarus. Since 2011 the Commission has been regularly reminding of its readiness to launch the negotiations.

The negotiations will focus on agreements to facilitate the procedures for issuing short-stay visas as well as the readmission of irregular migrants between the European Union and Belarus.

Political prisoner Ales Bialiatski could walk free

Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/21/2014 - 00:00

The political prisoner can be “pardoned” if “it is proved the damage he caused with the tax fraud has been repaid.”