Siargey Kavalenka’s punishment – 10 days in solitary confinement

The political prisoner told his wife about the punishment in the recent letter.

Since 18 June, the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian People's Front activist Siargey Kavalenka has been kept in a solitary confinement as a punishment. The political prisoner’s wife Alena Kavalenka has shared with Radio Svaboda the information that she got from the reformatory:

- Today I’ve received a letter from Siargey. The last paragraph was obviously written hastily after the letter was finished. I quote:

“Alena, the chief of the unit summoned me again today, on 17 June 2012. They have given me the second warning. I got to sweep the walking area for the first warning. They always inspect my night table. I cannot enter the playground because of the individual surveillance. Yesterday, on 16 June, they didn’t let me make a phone call. I’ve just had an argument with another prisoner – we had a squabble, but everyone believes that we fought. So now I risk a solitary confinement. This is likely to be a provocation.”

- The letter suddenly ends here. But today I learnt from a secure source from the reformatory, that Siargey had been placed to the solitary confinement cell for 10 days. He’ll stay there until 28 June. Food, books, personal belongings are not allowed. They want Siargey to write the pardon appeal as soon as possible. The pressure may have grown harder because of that, since now they won’t pass him even the necessary medicines.

Siargey Kavalenka was sentenced to 2 years and 1 month in prison for having violated his home confinement which he was sentenced to after having hung out a white-red-white flag on a New Year tree in Vitsebsk.