Political prisoners’ health is ailing as they are awaiting their trials

A well-known businessman Aliaksandr Vasilevich is a co-owner of the advertising holding Vondel/Hepta, websites kyky.org and the-village.me (both are blocked in Belarus), as well as the “Ў” gallery, which provided its premises for the warehouse of the ByCovid19 volunteer initiative helping Belarusian doctors for free. He has been in a detention center for almost 10 months on alleged suspicion of tax evasion. Yet, it is obvious that the authorities’ reasons for imprisoning Aliaksandr are of a political nature because he was present at the meeting with Lukashenko in the KGB pre-trial detention center when the latter met with his main political opponents Viktar Babaryka and Siarhei Tsikhanouski, and other opposition representatives.

During Vasilevich’s imprisonment, his health has deteriorated significantly: he has had COVID-19, pus discharge appears in both eyes, and the ligaments on his leg are torn; he also needs surgery. His wife Nadzeya Zeliankova and their two daughters were forced to leave Belarus for Estonia. In her opinion, the law in Belarus does not work at all. People are imprisoned first, and only then do the authorities come up with the reasons for the imprisonment.