Political prisoner Vaskovich marks birthday in prison

Political prisoner Yauhen Vaskovich marks his 25th birthday on February 26.

He was born in Babruisk to a family of workers on February 26, 1990. He worked for the newspaper Bobruiski Kuryer. He supports idea to form the Belarusian Christian Democracy party. He was punished with 12 days in custody for taking part in the post-election protests in 2010.

Yauhen Vaskovich was detained in Mahilou on January 17, a day after a picket of solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners. He came to Mahilou for an exam session at a university.

Yauhen Vaskovich, Artsiom Prakapenka and Pavel Syramolatau were tried in May 2011. Vaskovich was sentenced to 7 years in a medium security correctional facility for an attempt to set the doors of the KGB office in Babruisk on fire (he threw Molotov cocktails) on October 17, 2010.

Yauhen Vaskovich, Artsiom Prakapenka and Pavel Syramolatau were charged with hooliganism and intentional damage on a large scale.

Yauhen Vaskovich said in the final statement he didn't regret what he had done. He said he was a Litvin and his duty was to defend the national Belarusian values.

“I am ready to die for them, because life is short, but the motherland is eternal,” he said, adding that he didn't fear difficulties and would survive them. Yauhen Vaskovich ended his speech with the words “Long live Belarus”.

He was sent to Mahilou correctional facility No.15 and transferred to Mahilou prison No.4 with stricter confinement conditions on October 12, 2011. He was thrown into a punishment cell several times.

He returned to correctional facility No.15 in Mahilou on October 12, 2014.