Alyaksandr Kazulin: Any crime could be pinned on anyone on our country

“How could I comment the things which could be called comical, if they were not so tragic?” said the former political prisoner Alyaksandr Kazulin, commenting on the new criminal action against Mikalai Autukhovich.

“If there were really elements of crime in the actions of Mikalai Autukhovich, the case would be in the court much earlier. And now Mikalai Autukhovich and his colleagues from Vaukavysk are kept in prison for half a year for unknown reasons, and murderers, who are known to everyone, are on the loose… The plague of the thing is any crime can be pinned on any person n our country,” Alyaksandr Kazulin said.

A criminal case on charges for preparing a terrorist act, assassination of high-ranking officials, was opened against an oppositionist from Vaukavysk, businessman Mikalai Autukhovich.

Mikalai Autukhovich and two other activists of the movement of entrepreneurs from Vaukavysk, Yury Lyavonau and Uladzimir Asipenka, were detained on February 8 with the authorization of the procurator of Hrodna region. On February 18 the three were charged under article 218 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (Intentional damage or destruction of property of citizens).

Human rights activists consider the detained to be political prisoners drawing attention to the fact that Autukhovich and Lyavonau were convicted before and found prisoners of conscience by the international community.

On April 16 Mikalai Autukhovich went on hunger strike demanding to send his case to court or change the measure of restraint from custody to release on own recognizance. The hunger strike was stopped on July 16. The state of health of the political prisoner is called critical by doctors.