Stuk lies about political prisoners

Deputy prosecutor general Alyaksei Stuk says the political prisoners have the same confinement conditions as other inmates have.

“Their confinement conditions don't differ from those of other prisoners. They are kept in the conditions appropriate to their crimes,” Alyaksei Stuk said at a press conference in Minsk on Thursday.

According to him, “both Statkevich and Byalyatski violated prison rules and regulations”. “They didn't appeal against these decisions [on applying stricter confinement conditions],” the deputy prosecutor general said.

As charter97.org revealed, the official is not right.

“Mikalai Statkevich in the Mahilou prison unsuccessfully appealed against the sanctions imposed by the prison administration. As for equal confinement conditions, he is in a 'transit' cell – a wet concrete room without wooden floor. Besides, the political prisoners suffer from psychological pressure. We cannot speak about equal conditions,” Maryna Adamovich, the wife of political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich, said.

It should be reminded that Belarusian human rights activist Ales Byalyatski was sentenced to 4.5 years in a medium security penal colony and confiscation of property in November 2011 on a false accusation of tax evasion. Former presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich was charged with “organising mass disorders” on December 19, 2010, on the day of the presidential elections. He was sentenced to 6 years in a medium security penal colony.