Ales Byalyatski: “I am a malicious rules breaker!”

The human rights activist was punished for taking a slice of bread out of the prison dining room.

Ales Byalyatski, the jailed head of Viasna human rights centre, wrote his colleague Valyantin Stefanovich in the middle of June: “It seems to me it was not my last punishment in the penal colony.” The news from the penal colony in Babruisk confirms Ales's words, Viasna human rights centre reports.

Byalyatski writes in a letter to Valyantin Stefanovich dated August 5 that the authorities of penal colony No. 5 applied new sanctions on him.

Ales writes: “It happens so that I continue to violate 'The inmate rules of conduct'. For example, they issued a complaint against me last week. As a result, I was deprived of the right to get a parcel. Today [August 5], they took a note and they are likely to make a complaint tomorrow for taking food out of the dining room (I had a slice of bread). The previous punishment was for curtaining my bunk. These are violations of prison rules. It turns out I cannot be an ideal inmate...”

In reality, the violations described by Byalyatski are not usually punished in correctional facilities. Andrei Bandarenka, director of Platform information and education organization, recalls his term in the Babruisk penal colony and says many inmates took bread out of the dining room. The incident with Byalyatski clearly demonstrates the biased attitude towards the political prisoner and an attempt to apply psychological pressure on him.

Ales Byalyatski has had three disciplinary sanctions this year. It led to reducing the duration of meetings (1 day instead of 3 days), reducing the volume of food parcels from 30 to 15 kg. The human rights activist was deprived of additional 5 kg of vegetables  and fruits in summer. This time, the human rights activist was not allowed to receive a scheduled food parcel.

Ales tries to preserve courage and joke – he drew a caricature on a label of gloves he packs in the penal colony.