Political prisoner Uladzimir Asipenka is free

A businessman was released on parole from Ivatsevychy colony – 3 months before the termination of the term of his punishment.

“I was released on parole, 3 months and 4 days were left before the termination of the term. I did not count on it, nobody came, nobody told me to write a request, everything happened suddenly and quickly. And this is thanks to you – the opposition, human rights defenders and independent journalists. The Head of the Political Department of the colony informed me, that too many complaints that I’m not released came to the Department of Sentence Execution. And I was called at first to one commission, then to another, the court took place, the decision was satisfactory. On Friday I was released at 5 p.m., my daughter came to pick me up”, - Uladzimir Asipenka said to the site charter97.org.

To the question, how did the years of imprisonment pass, the unjust convict Uladzimir Asipenka says:

“I got through. All this is familiar to me as a military man who is accustomed to hardships. Of course, the problems with my sight arose, I lost the sight of one eye for 50%, problems with teeth. I remember, as a man on duty in the colony told us: whose sentence is more than three years will lose relatives, connections and teeth”, - the political prisoner said.

Commenting the court and the sentence imposed on him and Mikalai Autukhovich, Asipenka says:

“Sure, the authorities could not admit their defeat at court. This case was ordered. I don’t know who did it. I’ll tell you later, at first I’ll think everything over. Either I or Mikalai did not commit this crime. The case collapsed in court, but they could not recognize it. It was in their authority to decide, we wouldn’t have been imprisoned, they could have taken into consideration the fact that we had spent much time in pre-trial custody. The article according to which we were accused, stipulates just a limitation of freedom. They wanted to break me, but they made a mistake, I went endured everything. The principal task for now is – Mikalai. I was reading press and I agree with him: one should demand the launch of a criminal case against those who conducted the investigation. I was kept within 6 months on accusation of arson, which was not confirmed in court. There are corresponding articles for such investigators in the Criminal case. These actions are illegal and mean”, - an entrepreneur is sure.

The grant of parole obliges Uladzimir Asipenka to constantly appear at the police station and prohibits him to go abroad. “I wanted to go to Kiev to visit my sister’s grave, who died while I was in prison, but I can’t leave the country before February, 2011”, - Asipenka said.

Talking about his further plans, the former political prisoner states that “he is not intended to sit on his hands”.

“I’m going to participate actively in the opposition activity. I will not sit on my hands. People who hid us behind the bars should be punished”, - Asipenka says.

A former military man from Vaukavysk Uladzimir Asipenka was in the same court case with Mikalai Autukhovich. Asipenka, as well as Autukhovich, was accused of preparation of acts of terror against high-ranking officials, but it was not confirmed in court. The court, however, found Uladzimir Asipenka guilty of illegal actions with weapon and was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. The former military man pleaded unguilty and said that in such a way he was revenged for anticorruption activity and solidarity with Autukhovich. Uladzimir Asipenka was behind the bars from February, 8, 2009.

Mikalai Autukhovich was sentences to 5,5 years of imprisonment according to the similar faked-up, in the human rights defenders opinion, accusation.

Photo: Uladzimir Asipenka – from the right. From the left – Mikalai Autukhovich