Syarhei Kavalenka ends hunger strike
- 25.05.2012, 12:19
Syarhei Kavalenka, an activist of the CCP/BPF party from Vitebsk serving his sentence in Mahilou penal colony No. 19, has stopped hunger strike.
BelaPAN news agency has learned it from his wife.
According to Alena Kavalenka, a lawyer saw Syarhei on May 24. “The lawyer said Syarhei has ended his hunger strike and would continue his struggle in other ways. He is in a quarantine cell. He received prison uniform. He was not checked by doctors. The lawyer says Syarhei feels more or less good,” opposition activist's wife informs.
She says the lawyer prepares a supervisory appeal against Kavelanka's sentence to the Vitebsk region court.
Syarhei Kavalenka was detained on December 19, 2011, and accused of violation of probation (article 415 of the Criminal Code). Earlier, he was given a suspended sentence for hanging out a national white-red-white flag on Vitebsk's Christmas Tree. In February 2012, Kavalenka was sentenced to 2 years and a month in prison. After the arrest, Kavalenka went on hunger strike , which lasted almost two months with short breaks. The opposition activist was force-fe in early April.
On April 10, the Vitebsk region court heard Kavalenka's appeal and ruled out to send him for a psychiatric evaluation in Navinki psychiatric hospital near Minsk.
On April 13, the activist ended his hunger strike at hospital. The psychiatric evaluation found him sane. Kavalenka was sent back to detention facility No. 2 in Vitebsk, where he resumed hunger strike on May 8. On May 18, the Vitebsk region court dismissed his appeal against the judgement. According to unofficial information, Kavalenka was moved to a penal colony in Mahilou on May 19.
Alena Kavalenka is to stand trial in the Kastrychnitski district court of Vitebsk on May 30. She is accused of disorderly conduct. Activist's wife, his cousin and activist of European Belarus civil campaign wrote “Freedom to Syarhei Kavalenka” on the asphalt in front of the court building on May 18. The three of them were detained and taken to court, but trial was postponed because a judge wanted to question the police officers, who detained the accused.