Belarusian Political Prisoner Vadzim Khrasko Died Of Pneumonia In Colony

He was 50 years old.

In Vitsebsk colony #3, 50-year-old political prisoner Vadzim Khrasko died of pneumonia, Vesna reports.

Vadzim Khrasko was detained in a criminal case under Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (Financing of extremist activities). He was held in pre-trial detention center #1.

On August 4, 2023, judge of the Minsk City Court Siarhei Khrypach sentenced him to 3 years in a general regime colony. Vadzim Khrasko filed an appeal. On October 13, the judicial panel of the Supreme Court, chaired by Aliaksei Tsiatsiukhin, upheld the verdict. The man was sentenced to imprisonment despite his serious illness.

Vadzim was sent to serve his sentence in Vitsebsk colony #3, where, according to human rights activists, he spent about two months. On November 3, 2023, the Ministry of Internal Affairs included him in the “list of extremists.”

The political prisoner died on the night of January 8-9 from pneumonia. Human rights activists report that the man was taken to the hospital in a condition where it was no longer possible to save him. The death of the political prisoner has not yet been officially reported. On January 12, Vadzim Khrasko was buried in Minsk.

This is already the fourth death of a political prisoner behind bars.