News on the topic: political prisoners
19.11.2008 Lawyer not allowed to meet with defendant Barazenka
Barazenka's lawyer was not allowed to visit the political prisoner, kept in a detention facility in Valadarski Street.
18.11.2008 Corrupted judges remain at their posts. Yesman to try political prisoner
Judges, accused by Lukashenka in corruption, continue to work; one of them, Yesman, will try political prisoner Aliaksandar Barazenka.
17.11.2008 Political prisoner Barazenka goes on hunger strike
Activist of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Aliaksandar Barazenka has gone on a protest hunger strike in the Minsk detention facility and is going to continue it unless he is released. He wrote this in a letter to his friends. The letter was written on November 10, so the strike may be lasting for a week.
11.11.2008 Siarhei Skrabets is denied employment at Minsk Automobile Plant for political reasons
The former member of the house of representatives and opposition politician Siarhei Skrabets can’t find a job. Another attempt to apply for a job of a foreman in a foundry shop of the Minsk Automobile Plant (MAZ) was unsuccessful. Though there is a vacancy here, Skrabets was denied the job.
05.11.2008 Pinsk: actions in support of political prisoner Alexander Barazenka
Civil actions in support of the democratic activist Alexander Barazenka are held in Pinsk. The local activists hand out leaflets with information about him.
28.10.2008 New political prisoner appeared in Belarus
Statement of the Human Rights Center Viasna in conjunction with the arrest of Alexander Barazenka
28.10.2008 “Process of the Fourteen”: new political prisoner
On Monday, October 27th, youth activist Alexander Barazenka was put in Valadarskaha detention center. The young man is one of the figures in the criminal case for the entrepreneurs’ rally on January 10th. Let us remind you, the case received an unofficial name of the “Process of the Fourteen”. However, only thirteen people appeared in the dock. Student of Wroclaw University Alexander Barazenka decided to stay in Poland and not to come for the trial.
22.10.2008 Mikalai Autukhovich not allowed to work as taxi driver
Political prisoner Mikalai Autukhovich, who was substituted imprisonment by restraint of liberty at home, wasn’t allowed to work as a taxi driver.
09.09.2008 Supreme Court rejects Mikalai Statkevich’s appeal
The well-known activist and former political prisoner Mikalai Statkeivich intended to participate in the parliamentary elections, but was not let to do it. The official reason is that his conviction has not been cancelled yet.
16.08.2008 Kazulin is free
Today Aliaksandar Kazulin has been released from Vitsba-3 prison. He was serving the 5.5-year prison term, allegedly for hooliganism, after challenging Aliaksandar Lukashenka during the presidential election. Kazulin was granted pardon by special edict, signed by Lukashenka on Friday.
14.07.2008 Campaign on financial persecution of oppositionists and human rights activists continues
After Lukashenka’s statements that oppositionists lived better than all others without working anywhere the tax agencies started persecuting well known human rights activists and oppositionists.
11.07.2008 Hrodna: police are after Mikola Markevich’s sons
On 11 July Hrodna journalist, former political prisoner Mikola Markevich informed RFE/RL that his sons Aliaksei and Mikola are summonsed to the police.
11.07.2008 Human Rights Watch calls Prosecutor General to drop charges against Andrei Kim
Human Rights Watch is an international, nonpartisan, nongovernmental human rights organization with offices around the world, including New York, London, Berlin, Geneva, Brussels, Moscow, and Tashkent. Its Europe and Central Asia division has monitored and urged compliance with the human rights provisions of the 1975 Helsinki Accords in signatory countries and with international human rights law since the organization was formed in 1978. We are writing to express our profound concern about the recent arrests and disproportionate sentences of 10 youth activists for participating in a peaceful, but unsanctioned, protest on January 10, 2008. We are especially concerned about Andrei Kim, who is among these ten and who was arrested at a subsequent peaceful protest on January 21. He was charged with violations related to both protests and received a disproportionately harsh sentence for offences based on what we believe to be political reasons.
02.07.2008 Minsk: authorities ban pickets of solidarity with political prisoner Kazulin
The Minsk local authorities forbade holding of pickets of solidarity with political prisoner Alexander Kazulin, former presidential candidate.
02.07.2008 ‘Young Front’ activist Artsiom Lastavetski is tried while serving arrest
Artsiom Lastavetski, Young Front activist from Baranavichy, who is serving 7-day arrest for handing out portraits of political prisoner Andrei Kim, was guarded to another trial from a detention center.
