Political prisoner dies in Belarus after not receiving adequate medical care, says group

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TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A political prisoner died in Belarus after authorities failed to provide him with adequate medical care, a human rights group said Monday, in a death that has highlighted harsh prison conditions. Belarusians.

Vadzim Khrasko died of pneumonia in a colonial prison near the northeastern city of Vitebsk after authorities delayed taking him to a hospital, ignoring his pleas for help, the respected human rights center Viasna reported. He died on January 9, but the penal colony reported his death until now.

Khrasko, an information technology specialist who died at the age of 50, was serving a three-year sentence on charges of offering donations to opposition groups that authorities classified as “extremist.”

Political activist Leanid Sudalenka, who served his three-year sentence in the same colony, told The Associated Press after finishing his prison term that he almost died when COVID-19 hit the facility. He said he and other political prisoners had to wear a yellow label on their uniforms so they could be easily identified by guards, who, he said, frequently harassed, mistreated and humiliated them.

Sudalenka noted that methods of harassment can range from sending them to punishment cells and complete isolation from information, to denying them a meeting with a lawyer, medical care and access to medication.

There are other prisoners who have not survived imprisonment, including the artist Ales Pushkin, who died in July from a perforated ulcer after not receiving medical attention, and Vitold Ashurak, whose body was handed over to his relatives in 2021 still with a bandage on it. head.

Belarusian authorities have cracked down on opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko following huge protests sparked by the August 2020 election that gave him a sixth term in office. The elections were considered a fraud by the opposition and Western countries.