Mikalai Autukhovich to be transferred to prison

A court session in the correctional colony Nr 5 in Ivatsevichy for changing the custodial pattern for Mikalai Autukhovich to prison one (institutional treatment), is appointed for January 17.

Pavel Sapelka, a former lawyer of the political prisoner, has informed about that.

Last Wednesday, January 4, Autukhovich was suddenly summoned to the administration of the colony. He was confronted with the fact that the question of changing his custodial pattern would be considered. He opposed a court session without presence of a lawyer, so the session was appointed for January 17.

It should be noted that when the new lawyer visited Autukhovich on December 30, she did not receive any information about the court.

Pavel Sapelka has also said that after another incident with his former client he applied the public supervising committee under the central justice department of Brest regional executive committee. He took up the matter of due process of law in the colony with the committee, as such committees are responsible for public supervision over the penitentiary institutions. The chairman of the supervision committee Istomava wrote in her answer that “the commission does not have a right to check officials of penitentiary institutions and how they fulfill requirements of the law when executing punishments.”

“Such an answer is a vivid example of the state of public control over the places of deprivation of freedom in Belarus, which exists only for form’s sake as we see. In reality, regardless of harsh criticism of human rights activists, no efforts are made to improve conditions of prisoners,” Pavel Sapelka said.

The committee forwarded his address for consideration of the prosecutor’s office of Ivatsevichy district.