Political prisoner Ihar Lednik died in imprisonment
According to Viasna, another political prisoner and a civil activist Ihar Lednik died at the age of 64. Despite having a second-degree disability due to heart problems, the political prisoner was still sentenced to imprisonment.
In the colony, Ihar Lednik’s health deteriorated significantly, and he underwent gastrointestinal surgery. The political prisoner’s cause of death was cardiac arrest. Doctors tried to resuscitate him, but to no avail.
He was sentenced to three years of imprisonment for “slandering Lukashenko” for writing an article in Pazicyja, a magazine of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (BSDP). According to the case file, the article contained “deliberately false information discrediting and degrading the honor and dignity of Lukashenko, combined with accusations of particularly serious crimes, against the security of mankind among others.”
Commemoration events in memory of the civil activist Ihar Lednik took place in Białystok, Warsaw, and Kraków.
This is the fifth death of a political prisoner behind bars in Belarus.
The first known case of a political prisoner’s death in custody is that of a 50-year-old activist from Biarozaŭka Vitold Ashurak.
In the video from prison, the man looked exhausted and could barely remain standing on his feet. When the relatives were shown the body of the political prisoner, his head was nearly entirely wrapped in bandages. The Investigative Committee declared that the political prisoner’s death was not of a criminal nature and has not initiated a criminal case yet.
Following that, a 61-year-old political prisoner, blogger, and public activist from Pinsk Mikalai Klimovich passed away. He had a second-degree disability due to a cardiac system disease; he had suffered a stroke and undergone a complex heart surgery.
A few months later, 57-year-old political prisoner and artist Ales Pushkin died in intensive care. He had a perforated ulcer. The artist was already brought to the hospital in an unconscious state, and his heart stopped while on the surgical table.
This January, a 50-year-old political prisoner Vadzim Khrasko died of pneumonia. According to Viasna human rights activists, Vadzim was ill during his imprisonment. The man was taken to the hospital when he could no longer be saved.
