Three years in prison for donations
Another political prisoner dies in Belarus
January 15, 2024, 8:57 p.m
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In 2020, hundreds of thousands of Belarusians protested against ruler Lukashenko. Many are arrested and sentenced to draconian prison terms. Even years later, the dictator took tough action against his critics. One of them dies in prison – just a few months after his arrest.
Human rights activists have once again accused the penal system in the authoritarian ex-Soviet republic of Belarus of the death of a political prisoner. The Vyasna Human Rights Center said 50-year-old Vadim Khrasko died of untreated pneumonia. The critic of ruler Alexander Lukashenko was only taken to the hospital when he could no longer be saved.
He died on the night of January 9th. It was the fourth death of a political prisoner in Belarus, it was said. The authorities in Minsk did not provide any information about the new case.
According to Vyasna, more than 1,400 people are imprisoned as political prisoners in Belarus. Many of them took part in protests against Lukashenko after the 2020 presidential election, which was overshadowed by unprecedented allegations of fraud.
Sentenced to three years in prison despite illness
According to the court ruling, Chrasko is said to have financed the opposition; Despite his illness, he was sentenced to three years in a prison camp in August last year for allegedly supporting extremists. According to Belarusian media reports, these were only a few donations. No further details were disclosed. The judiciary under Lukashenko is seen as an instrument of political arbitrariness and the suppression of dissidents.
The ruler was declared the winner again after the election in August 2020. He suppressed the mass protests against his remaining in power. The Belarusian opposition and civil rights activists in exile accuse Lukashenko of mass repression. Political prisoners are being held in deplorable conditions and the number of detainees continues to rise, Vjasna said.
Khrasko, who was arrested last year, was buried on January 12th in the capital Minsk. Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya expressed her condolences to the family of the prisoner who died. She accused Lukashenko’s “criminal regime” of intentionally allowing sick prisoners to die. “We will do everything we can to ensure that those involved in these crimes receive their just punishment,” said Tikhanovskaya in exile abroad.