Mikola Statkevich: Vaskovich thrust into solitary cell for denial to write petition

There is an attempt to force Yauhen Vaskovich, a political prisoner, to write a petition for pardon.

A political prisoner Mikola Statkevich believes that placing the young activist into a solitary confinement cell in Mahilyou prison demonstrates that a petition for pardon was expected to be signed by him, but the attempt failed, Radio Svaboda informs.

Mikola Statkevich, who is staying in a solitary confinement cell for more than 2 months, experienced this pressure himself, the wife of the political prisoner Maryna Adamovich says.

The former presidential candidate MIkola Statkevich, convicted for the protest rally on the Square (Ploshcha), and the young activist Yauhen Vaskovich, convicted for alleged hooliganism committed in relation to the KGB headquarters in Babrujsk, are kept in one and the same closed Mahilyou prison. According to recent reports, Yauhen Vaskovich was transferred to a solitary confinement cell. Yauhen Vaskovich’s mother Rushaniya earlier told about attempts of the administration of the prison to coerce her son into writing a petition for pardon, and that her son refused to sign such papers.