Marathon of writing letters to political prisoner Vaskovich started

The campaign is to continue until February 26, which is birthday of the political prisoner.

Leaders of the independent REP trade union and activists of the civil campaign “European Belarus” have started a campaign of solidarity with Yauhen Vaskovich. They call upon all concerned people to congratulate him on his birthday by sending a birthday card to the place of his detention, Radio Svaboda informs.

The campaign started on the traditional Day of Solidarity with political prisoners, February 16, and is to last until February 26, the birthday of Yauhen Vaskovich. Organisers offer to visit the headquarters of the REP (Radio and Elecronic Industry) trade union in order to sign a post card, and also to send congratulations independently.

The aim of the campaign is to support the political prisoner, who is experiencing harsh pressure on the part of the prison administration for his unyielding position, and to attract attention of the public to the lives of people persecuted for their political views and convictions. “A European country cannot be considered a civilized and democratic one, as long as there are political prisoners in the country,” one of the activists stressed.

On the first day of the action of solidarity about a dozen of people, including mother of a political prisoners Alyaksandr Frantskevich, visited the REP trade union to write a card to Yauhen Vaskovich.

A journalist, a member of the Belarusian Association of Journalists Yauhen Vaskovich, who is also an activist of the organizing committee for creation of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party, was detained on January 17, 2011. On May 18, 2011 he was sentenced to 7 years in a medium security penal colony under charges of an attempted arson of the doors of the KGB office in Babrujsk on October 17,2010 overnight. He was charged under Article 339 Part 2 of the Criminal Code (malicious hooliganism) and Article 218 Part 3 of the Criminal Code (intended damaging on an especially large scale). By the decision of the court on October 12, 2011 conditions for serving the term were harshened. Vaskovich was transferred from the penal colony #15 in Mahilyou into the prison #4 in Mahilyou. On October 12, 2014 he was returned into the penal colony #15 in Mahilyou.