Valyantina Alinevich: Conditions in Belarusian prisons are refined genocide

The judicial system maims and eliminates Belarusians.

Valyantina Alinevich, the mother of political prisoner Ihar Alinevich gave an interview to charter97.org. She described the situation of her son.

“Ihar began to work in a wood processing shop, though he is a specialist in electronics. He worked in space engineering. He is still considered to be a 'persistent violator of prison rules'. All political prisoners were given this status last summer. He is allowed to spend only 100,000 Belarusian rubles per month. We know little about him. We receive letters twice a month with a delay and telephone calls are rare. He cannot write about politics. When he was proposed to apply for a pardon for the first time, he refused. I doubt he will tell us if he receives other proposals. He made his choice. Nobody asked his opinion before sending him to work,” Valyantina Alinevich says.

The mother of the political prisoner says her son receives many letters from all over the world.

“Our political prisoners are the people Belarus and the entire world should be proud of. I feel the help and support of Europe. Ihar told me about postcards and letters with the words of support. I cannot demand anything, but I'd like to see my son released,” she said.

“The penal colony, where he serves his term, is a chemical laboratory of Belarus. It is situated between Naftan and Polymer plants. Grass and trees don't grow there. People  retire early and receive hazard pay. Living there should be prohibited. People were deprived of freedom, but they should not die there. The air is bad. Visitors begin to cough. You can imagine what it is to live there for years. People have vitamins and calcium deficiency due to the lack of normal food. People lose their teeth. Dogs eat better than they. They are not allowed to buy food to maintain their health. This is systematic refined genocide,” she said.

A judge of Minsk's Zavadski district court, Zhanna Khvainitskaya, sentenced Ihar Alinevich to 8 years in a medium security penal colony on May 27, 2011. He serves his term in penal colony No. 10 in Navapolatsk. Mikalai Dzyadok, Alyaksandr Frantskevich and he were accused of organizing a procession near the Ministry of Defence, carrying out attacks on Shangri La casino and a detention centre and carrying our an arson attack on Belarusbank's office.