Political Prisoner Aliaksandr Yarashuk Transferred To Indoor Prison In Mahiliou

He served his sentence in the Shklou colony.

Chairman of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions Aliaksandr Yarashuk is being transferred from the Shklou colony to the indoor prison in Mahiliou. Activist of the independent trade union movement Maksim Pazniakou reported this to Radio Svaboda, referring to the data received from Yarashuk himself.

“We know that it is difficult for him, there was a lot of pressure on him from the beginning and now they haven’t left him alone. Why they threw him into the indoor prison is still unknown to us. But it is clear that they will find a reason if there is an order. For him, a man already of retirement age, transfer to a closed prison means new challenges. We understand that in a moral and physical sense, an indoor prison is much more difficult than a colony. But we hear that he is holding on courageously,” the activist said.

Aliaksandr Yarashuk was born in 1951. The leader of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions was arrested in April 2022 and sentenced to 4 years in prison under Articles 342 and 361 of the Criminal Code — for “organizing actions that grossly violate public order” and “calling for actions damaging the national interests of the country.” Aliaksandr Yarashuk pleaded not guilty.

Other leaders of the independent trade union movement encountered health problems in captivity, reported Maksim Pazniakou.

“We know that Henadz Fiadynich, who is being held in Babruisk colony #2, began to have kidney problems, and he also has diabetes. Vasil Berasniuou, who is in the colony #15 near Mahiliou, also has problems with kidneys.

Vaclau Areshka is also serving a sentence of 8 years there. He has a very difficult situation with eyesight; he can’t see with one of his eyes at all.”

“Most of our political prisoners are those who have already been convicted and are in colonies. Letters come from some, there are calls to the outside. But not from everyone. For Aliaksandr Yarashuk, even calls were limited. Sometimes it happens that relatives of prisoners ask not to report anything about them in the media, because they are afraid. One activist is soon to be released, so they are asking to remain silent about him. This concerns the colonies.

But there are also those colleagues who were detained relatively recently and are still under investigation, like Naftan activists Volha Brytsikava, Aliaksandr Balonkin and Aliaksandr Kukharonak. We know that they are in the Vitsebsk pre-trial detention center. The conditions there are difficult, but they are holding on.”

According to Maksim Pazniakou, this year we should expect more decisive actions aimed at the release of Belarusian trade union activists from the International Labor Organization (ILO).

“This year, the ILO adopted a resolution on Belarus, which refers to the application of paragraph 33 of the ILO Charter to the Belarusian government. This clause recommends that trade union organizations that are members of the ILO, in response to a violation of the right to trade union association in a certain country, put pressure on it through sanctions, boycotts, and worker solidarity campaigns. This position has been communicated to different countries, and we expect that it will soon begin to bear fruit,” said Maksim Pazniakou.