2024-04-23 16:42:23
Nearly 100 political prisoners in Belarus, imprisoned as part of a harsh crackdown on dissent, have serious medical problems and may be on the verge of death, the respected Belarusian human rights organization “Vyasna” warned yesterday, the Associated Press reported.
Viasna, whose founder and Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski is also behind bars, lists by name 93 prisoners whose condition is of particular concern. These jailed opposition figures suffer from cancer, heart disease and other ailments, but their condition was not taken into account, BTA reported.
“When you are in prison, any disease develops faster, given the lack of qualified medical assistance,” said the representative of “Vyasna” Pavel Sapelka. “This is influenced by the conditions in which the detainee is placed – lack of fresh air, poor quality food, constant psychological pressure and stress.”
Belarus has launched a brutal crackdown on the opposition after mass protests erupted across the country following the August 2020 election, whose disputed results gave authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko a sixth term in office.
Human rights activists estimate that around 35,000 people were detained in the crackdown, and many were beaten by the police. All prominent opposition figures have been jailed or fled the country.
Vyasna states that more than 1,400 political prisoners are currently behind bars.
Among the cases cited by Vesna in the report is that of Maria Kolesnikova, who was one of the most prominent leaders of the post-election protests. She underwent abdominal surgery but was quickly transported back to prison. Vesna said the food, given to her was not appropriate for her condition, and an investigation by the organization found that Kolesnikova had been beaten before being hospitalized.
Other cases the group included in the report were that of 19-year-old Mikita Zalataru, who was allegedly refused pills to control his epilepsy, and Jochen Baruski, who told his family while he was ill that “ I’ll probably just die here.”