Syarhei Kavalenka may face cirrhosis

A political prisoner has been diagnosed with hepatosis, a disease that can cause cirrhosis.

Syarhei Kavalenka's wife Alena and his son Valyantin visited him in the Mahilou penal colony, Radio Svaboda reports. The meeting took 2 hours. Alena Kavalenka says about health problems of her husband, who has had three hunger strikes since December 2011.

“His kidneys and liver bother him. He was diagnosed with hepatosis, a disease that precedes hepatitis and can lead to cirrhosis if no measures are taken. He asked for dietary nutrition, but was denied. His face and legs swell. A possible reason is a heart disease. He weights 69 kg in clothes. He says he lacks micro-elements, especially calcium. He eats chicken and fish with bones due to the lack of calcium. I wasn't able to give him medicines – it must be agreed upon with a prison doctor.”

Before transferring to prison barracks, Syarhei Kavalenka was warned against “talking about politics and agitating”, Alena Kavalenka says.

Syarhei Kavalenka was given 2-year prison term for violating the rules of a suspended sentence the CCP/BPF received for hanging out a national white-red-white flag on a Christmas Tree in Vitebsk.