Babruisk City Councilor Released after 10 Days in Jail

26.09.2006.

Several dozen people came to the gates of the jail to meet Ales Chyhir. His family, friends, city councilors from Mahilou, Minsk and other cities of Belarus waited for his discharge. However, at first the jail administration delayed his release for 1 hour. Then they took Ales home in a police car to spoil the meeting. Ales Chyhir says: “Every day I thought about people waiting for me. When you know that there are people who need you and are waiting for you, that you are in jail for a good cause, then it’s easy to be in jail”.

According to Ales Chyhir, those were his almost first words in 10 days – he had been kept in a one-man cell in jail. However, he knows that other cells were overcrowded. He lost 10 kilos in 10 days because of bad meals. At the same time, unlike other prisoners, he succeeded in his efforts to get everyday walks in the open air and polite treatment from the prison guards.

Ales Chyhir claims not guilty and plans to sue the school administration for firing him from work.

Ales Chyhir, member of Babruisk city council and a father of 3 children, worked as a history teacher in one of the city schools. Recently he has been fired for his political activities.