“They sit in SHIZA every month.” News from anarchists Alinevich and Emelianov, who are kept in the strictest prisons

2023-10-16 13:46:43

Anarchist Igor Alinevich for the second year they are kept in prison No. 8 in Zhodzin. Information about him comes from the prison, but there is very little of it, because contact with him is restricted in every way, according to an informed source.

“He is not kept in solitary confinement, but the communication situation is still difficult. Every month he sits in SHIZA. Calls and transmissions, including medical ones, are deprived. Letters reach him, but only from relatives. And with varying degrees of success,” said a source connected to Ihar Alinevich’s relatives.

At the end of September, Ihar Alinevich turned 40 years old. So far, the relatives do not know whether he received a birthday congratulations from them. Ihar Alinevich celebrated his birthday last year at SHIZA.

“But from the letters that arrive, it is known that he is not broken, he is cheerful as always,” says the source.

Activist of the anarchist movement Ihar Alinevich was detained while crossing the border of Belarus on October 29, 2020 as part of a group of like-minded people “Black Flag”, which, according to the court, set a number of fires on the territory of Belarus to buildings and vehicles of security forces. It is known that the anarchists did not renounce their actions at the trial, calling them “resistance to the regime”. The trial of Ihor Alinevich, as well as Sergei Romanov, Dmitri Dubovsky and Dmitri Razanovich was held behind closed doors. At the court, the defendants claimed torture after the arrest. In December 2021, Ihar Alinevich was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in a maximum security prison for terrorism and illegal activities with weapons.

Nikita Emelianov is sitting alone

Activist of the anarchist movement Nikita Emelianova have been behind bars for four years, of which he has been in prison for the last three years. For some time he was in Mogilev prison, from this year – in prison No. 1 in Hrodna.

“He is alone in the cell. He does not complain about his health. Correspondence only with family. Mood is normal. He was admitted to SHIZA. He uses the prison library, but he still hasn’t received the books he ordered through Belposhta. For four months, those books have been lying not far from the prison, at the post office, but they have not delivered them to him,” said Nikita Emelyanova’s mother, Nastasya.

According to the source, Nikita Emelianov again had a problem with visiting the priest.

“The administration of the institution simply does not want to let a Catholic priest there.”

Since 2019, Nikita Emelyanov has been serving a 4-year prison sentence for throwing an ink can into the Mengarsud building and trying to set fire to the door of the pre-trial detention center on Volodarsky Street. At the beginning of 2022, Nikita Yemelyanov was given another 2 years to his term under Article 411 of the Criminal Code for “malicious disobedience to the requirements of the administration of the correctional facility.”

“Soon it will be October 20 – four years since Nikita was in captivity. Now there is no political person in prison who has already served 4 years. There are still more than two years left, but, to be honest, this date has no meaning. After all, if the regime collapses, Nikita will leave soon. And if the cut will stick, then this carousel with the 411th article can be endless,” says Nikita Yemelyanova’s mother.

On the eve of October 14, a greeting card with Mother’s Day came from the political prisoner.

Human rights defenders of Belarus recognized anarchists Igor Alinevich and Nikita Emelyanov as political prisoners, referring to closed courts and sentences clearly disproportionate to the offense.