Zmiter Dashkevich: «People, who support me, are put in isolation wards»

Editor’s office of “Narodnaya Vola” received a letter from political prisoner Zmiter Dashkevich, the “Young Front” leader. The news-paper wanted to publish an interview with Zmiter Dashkevich. They even sent their questions to the colony. Though they didn’t hope for an answer, moreover such a detailed answer, they reached their gain, though Zmiter warned “sorry, if I have missed something, it wasn’t made specially.”

Firstly, journalists were asking about a new criminal case.

“All the time, when my friends from the “Young Front” were under investigation, the investigators were coming to me and tried to make me give evidence against the people I knew, Zmiter explained. Of course, I refused to give evidence, alleging as the reason that they could do harm to me or my relatives. The Constitution and the Criminal Code allow not to give evidence in this situation. That’s why my friends and I fended off annoying questions of investigators and KGB agents. I wrote this formulation in records of interrogation, when they tried to make me give evidence against Garetski, Korban, Yanusheuski, Khvedaruk, Palazhanka, Azarka and of course, on Ivan Shila’s criminal case.

And then something made the investigators to think about the practicability of brining up a new criminal case against me for groundless refusal to give evidence according to the article № 402 of the Criminal Code. At first, I though it was just a bluster, but the security agencies decided to move in this direction and give me an order of institution of criminal case. In the records of interrogations I noted that in my opinion, the article № 193-1 of the Criminal Code contravenes the Constitution (the article about criminal responsibility for activity on behalf of unregistered organisation, which is considered to be anti-constitutional by many Belarusian and international experts - editorial note). I said the investigators that my evidence on that article would contravene the main law of Belarus and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights” ratified by Belarus. But no explanations were taken into consideration. So, I had a trial.”

On the question about life in the prison and the people there, the political prisoner said:

“The life is rather monotonous: we get up at 6 in the morning, go to bed at 10 in the evening, work from 8 a.m. till 5 p.m., the day off is Sunday. The main problem is absence of spare time, as after supper and evening roll cap, which ended in 6 – 6.30 p.m., we have only about three hours of spare time to read something and read and write letters.

There are different people around. Once I wrote my friends about the prisoners, that many of them support me. After that the people, who were rather close to me, began to get into isolation wards, were threatened and so on, because the information appeared in media. So, I don’t want to speak much about my prison life, not to make problems to anybody.”

About the forthcoming amnesty Dashkevich said:

“The amnesty is a popular subject for discussion here. But Klimau’s statement, that everybody is praying to the notorious person, is not exactly true. I haven’t met any such prayers yet. I won’t be amnestied because I’m a “malicious violator of inner discipline”, such category of prisoners can’t be amnestied.

What concerns a great number of new youth initiatives, I myself can’t understand the situation, though I am trying to follow the events of social and political processes. I don’t even speak about realisation of ideas and how these structures influence the society... Of course, we can’t name all of them the KGB agents, as some people try to do. But the activity of such organisations can be settled in KGB schemes.

After the release, as I promised on the trial, I’m planning to continue my work with the “Young Front”, unite the youth on the basis of Christian values and create of national idea on its base. I’m strongly convinced that these principles can help Belarus to revive, become a real democratic and successful nation.”

We remind, that the “Young Front” leader Zmiter Dashkevich was sentenced to 1.5 year of colony of common regime according to the political article № 193 CC (activity on behalf of unregistered organization) on November,1 , 2006. He was sent to Shklou colony of strict regime. In the prison new accusation against him were presented according to the article № 402 of the Criminal Code for his refusal to give evidence against his friends. According to that article Dashkevich could have got 6 months of imprisonment. The trial was closed and surprisingly short. Judge Kashkina found the youth activist guilty and fined him of 60 base totals (Br 1.860.000). Only the representative of the OSCE mission, who had sent a letter asking to be present on the trial to minister of internal affairs Uladzimer Navumau, was allowed to the trial.