Ales Byalyatski transferred to Babruisk

• 17.02.2012, 13:22

Ales Byalyatski, the head of Viasna human rights centre, has been transferred from a detention facility in Zhodzina to penal colony No. 2 in Babruisk.

This information was spread by the wife of the human rights activist, Natallya Pinchuk. She received the latest letter from Zhodzina dated of February 12.

It is now being figured out if the human rights defender has already arrived in Babruisk or still on the way. Natallya got a telephone call from a lawyer, who said her husband was sent to penal colony No. 2 in Babruisk.

Penal colony No.2 is situated on the outskirts of Babruisk. Among the inmates of the colony were political prisoners Andrei Sannikov, Andrei Pratasyenya and Andrei Kim. The penitentiary has about 1000 prisoners. Inmates' work includes producing wooden boxes, work clothes, shoulder marks, chevrons and patches for law-enforcement bodies. Earlier, inmates were taken for work to a special shop at the Tyre Plant.

Ales Byalyatski was sentenced to 4.5 years in a medium security penal colony and confiscation of property. He was found guilty of tax evasion. Byalyatski does not admit his guilt and claims the verdict is politically motivated. The money on his accounts in Lithuania and Poland did not belong to him personally, but was spent on aid to victims of repression, lawyers and other human rights activities. A cassation appeal against the decision in Byalyatski's case was dismissed by the Minsk City Court on January 24.