Kazulin Stays in Jail

03.04.2008. Tags: political prisoners, Kazulin.
Source: Charter`97.

25 March the administration of the Vitsba-3 prison refused to grant parole to the former presidential candidate, leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party Hramada Alexander Kazulin. The prisoner’s daughter Yuliya Kazulina was informed about it by the department of punishment implementation.

According to the information of the BelaPAN, in the letter it is stated that such a decision was taken as Kazulin ‘did not step on the path of correction’.

Bear in mind that on 13 March Yuliya Kazulina filed addressed the Vitsba-3 prison administration with the request to grant parole to her father.

The lawyer Ihar Rynkevich says it is not clear why the answer was sent by the department of punishment implementation, not the prison administration. ‘It is the administration of Vitsba-3 who is to answer to us, that’s why we’ll consider the letter from the punishment implementation department just as information till we receive an official answer from Vitsba-3,’ Rynkevich said.

The lawyer thinks that the punishment to Kazulin can be eased only as a result of Europe’s pressure on the official Minsk.

In his last letter to Yuliya Alexander Kazulin wrote that the pressure upon him and his brigade had increased after the US imposed economical sanctions against Belarus.

His daughter Yuliya read out a fragment of the letter to EuroRadio. ‘U.S. sanctions caused the responsive sanctions against the brigade, to which I belong. A large-scale operation under the code name Kazulin’s Blockade is maintained, I guess, under the direct command of secret service. Its objective is my full isolation from the outside world, people, society. A crowd of different controllers are watching even my sneezing. All possible forces are activated.

As it is said here, I enjoy all pleasures of being under close surveillance. The only thing they don’t use is that they don’t place a head of operating unit in the brigade to watch me. Video surveillance of the brigade, room eavesdropping and pressurization of the people who may maintain contacts with me – all these measure are taken.’