Kazulin doesn’t expect early release any more

A political prisoner Alyaksandr Kazulin has been visited in the colony by his lawyer Zmitser Harachka. What are the news about his state of health and what are the prospects of his early release?

The meeting of the lawyer Zmitser Harachka with Alyaksandr Kazulin lasted for more than an hour. As said by the lawyer, the politician was not feeling very well, Radio Svaboda informs.

Alyaksandr Kazulin has a number of chronic diseases, and he had aggravation after a 53-day hunger strike in the end of 2006. For more than half a year after the hunger strike Alyaksandr Kazulin was allowed to eat dietary food, but then he was deprived of that privilege. “Alyaksandr Kazulin doesn’t visit the prison canteen as before. He eats the food sent to him by his family,” the lawyer Harachka said.

Zmitser Harachka confirmed the reports that informational isolation of his client in the colony had worsened. Earlier active correspondence of Kazulin with addressees at large has almost stopped. Letters are received rarely of late; they are received with great delay.

Zmitser Harachka says that Alyaksandr Kazulin “does not count on early release” any more. As said by the lawyer, the administration of the colony would not raise this issue either.

Earlier Alyaksandr Kazulin was the last in the list of six political prisoners whom the Belarusian authorities promised to release in order to improve relations with the US. Over a several months five persons from that list were released. The last one, who was released, in the middle of February, was Zmitser Dashkevich. In the end of February, when Alyaksandr Kazulin was released for three days to attend the funeral of his wife Iryna, many people thought early release of Alyaksandr Kazulin is possible.

However, until now, for two years already, the former candidate for presidency stays in prison. The US government and the EU leaders continue to demand release of Alyaksandr Kazulin from the Belarusian authorities, and to stop repressions against other oppositionists.