Ales Bialiatski allowed to meet with wife and sister

Political prisoner's wife Natallia Pinchuk and his sister Volha Bialiatskaya visited him in the correctional colony in Babruisk.

A short two-hour visit took place today. Ales Bialiatski's relatives talked to him by phone through a glass barrier, charter97.org learnt from Natallia Pinchuk.

“Ales's sister Volha and I visited the colony. We talked to him by turns, because we had only one handset. He asked many questions about life outside jail. We told him only 'neutral' news. As for his state and confinement conditions, I can quote Ales: 'I feel fine, the mood is good.' But we need to understand his words in the context and conditions he said them,” Natallia Pinchuk said.

She said Ales Bialiatski still worked at a closing factory.

“He packs goods that the Babruisk colony produces. He does it every working day,” The wife of the political prisoner said.

Natallia Pinchuk adds that she has two more visits to her husband – a long-term one in the middle of November and a short one on December 21.

Ales Bialiatski was arrested more than 2 years ago, on August 4, 2011. Some months later he was found guilty of tax evasion on a large scale and sentenced to 4.5 years in a medium security correctional colony and confiscation of property. Bialiatski faced prosecution for having bank accounts in Poland and Lithuania. He spent the money on his accounts on human rights activity. Bialiatski serves his term in correctional colony No. 2 in Babruisk since February 2012.

Photo: AFP