Valadarski Street remand prison inmates go on hunger strike
15- 14.03.2012, 13:45
14 prisoners of the remand prison Nr 1 in Minsk refuse to eat.
A copy of their address dated by February 22 was received by human rights activists of “Platforma” association.
“We state that since February 22, 2012 midnight we stop taking any food. We ask the administration of the remand prison Nr 1 of Minsk to cross us out from the list of catering, and stop receiving any parcels for us,” the letter reads.
Then the prisoners whose case was heard in Belarusian Military Court then, explain the reason for their action: “During the preliminary investigation of our criminal case by the officers of the organized crime directorate, with the connivance of investigator S.P Vashkevich, flagrant violations of the law took place. Among them were falsifying the materials of the criminal case, exerting pressure on witnesses and injured persons, with the aim to make them give evidence considered necessary; unnatural exaggeration of importance of our criminal case with the aim to demonstrate alleged high results of their work,” prisoners of the remand prison Nr 1 write.
In addition, the prisoners note that the abovementioned facts were confirmed in the court, when “during the hearing about 60 witnesses, injured persons and alleged offenders gave concrete evidence about harsh pressure on them by the officers of the Main directorate on organized crime.”
The authors of the letter urge the Prosecutor General of Belarus “to carry out an unbiased and extensive inspection of the gross violations of the law by the officers of the Main directorate on organized crime of the Interior Affairs Ministry of Belarus, and personally control this inspection.”
“Platforma”, an informational and educational institution, has sent an address to the Prosecutor General and to the Corrections Department on Belarus concerning the facts in the document.
Human rights activists have been informed about the step of Valadarski Street prison by their families. There is no information about the current state of the persons on hunger strike.
