Maksim Viniarski Spends Seven Days In Punishment Cell

What is happening to the political prisoner in the colony #3 near Vitsebsk?

Activist of the European Belarus civil campaign Maksim Viniarski is serving his 5-year sentence in the colony #3 near Vitsebsk. A source well-informed about the situation of Maksim Viniarski shared with Radio Svaboda the latest information about the political prisoner.

“Last month he spent seven days in a punishment cell. What he was punished for remains unknown. Letters from him come more or less periodically, he calls home relatively regularly, and has had a short-term meeting with his family. He looked thinner, but he’s holding on, he does not show that he is having a rough time. Maksim goes to the library and to the stadium a couple of times a month, when his shift is off and there is no additional work,” the source said about Maksim Viniarski.

According to the same source, the political prisoner works on cleaning wires from insulation: “this year this is the main production in the colony, since metal is easier to sell, and all warehouses are stuffed with wooden products.”

This was confirmed by former political prisoner Anatol Khinevich, who also served his sentence in the colony #3 near Vitsebsk and was released in February of this year.

“As for his working conditions, he is in the 2/11 brigade — this is the so-called “penal battalion”, since there are bad conditions and dirty work dismantling metal. Sometimes you have to work with glass wool, and this is very harmful to health,” noted Anatol Khinevich.

According to Anatol Khinevich, he met Maksim Viniarski in the colony during classes in a literary hobby group, where he learned that Maksim wrote poetry. Anatol recited by heart the lines of a prison poem by Maksim Viniarski:

***

The greatest movie

Prisoner can see is dream.

A vision sparkling through

The usual routine.

It’s dizzying and sweet

Like honey-flavored wine,

It’s like a vibrant breeze

It waves your sails at night.

It carries you away

Through prison walls and bars,

So you can see again

The people that you love.

Your bonds have gone

And arms now free

And all the darkest times

Are fading right away,

Like a horrific dream.

***

Maksim Viniarski’s term ends in two years. What he thinks about his release was told by a source who asked not to be named:

“It’s clear that he has no big illusions and is ready for any scenario.”

European Belarus activist Maksim Viniarski was detained on January 22, 2021, and later sentenced to 5 years in prison under Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code (“preparation for participation in mass riots”). The activist pleaded not guilty.