Political prisoner Malchanau demands to overturn sentence

A lawyer visited Alyaksandr Malchanau in a detention facility in Zhodzina on July 9.

She said the political prisoner would appeal against the judgement.

“He has a cold and looks pale, but he feels normal. Alyaksandr decided to file a supervisory appeal against the judgement after his cassation appeal was dismissed by the cassation board of the Minsk region court on June 26 and judgement took force. Alyaksandr sends his greetings to everyone and thanks for support. He waits for a transfer to a penal colony,” Tatyana Kim, the mother of former political prisoner Andrei Kim, quotes the lawyer on Facebook.

We remind that the lawyer was not allowed to see the political prisoner on July 5 because the chief of the Zhodzina detention facility told her documents from the regional court had not been received.

Alyaksandr Malchanau was sentenced to 18 months in a maximum security penal colony on April 9. He was charged with violation of part 2 of article 205 of the Criminal Code (a theft committed repeatedly or by a group of people, or a home-invasion theft). He and Artyom Ihnatikau were accused of stealing scrap metal from the territory of a forging plant in Zhodzina. The political prisoner claims he did not touch equipment but was just picking up rusty metal items on the territory of the plant, which does not work for many years.

Malchanau could not find a job after a prison term for the events on December 19, 2010. Potential employers did not want to hire him though he earlier worked for the Machinery and Repair Plant, Gidrousilitel Plant, BATE Plant in Barysau. He had to collect scrap metal to earn his living.

Alyaksandr Malchanau was a Zubr activist in the early 2000s. He took part in the post-election protests on December 19, 2010. He was detained at home in Barysau on January 6, 2011  and accused of participating in mass disorders and desecrating the state flag, which he tore down from the KGB building.

On March 2011, judge of the Frunzenski district court Tatyana Charkas sentenced Malchanau to 3 years in a medium security penal colony. He served his term in penal colony No. 15 in Mahilou.