The political prisoner who had undergone a spinal operation was forbidden to use a crutch. «Zmitser was not allowed to wear orthopedic shoes handed over to him and he should bend his body to put stiff prison boots on. As lying in the day-time is not permitted as well, he has to turn up at roll calls and walk in a line with other prisoners. He was appointed to do easy work», his wife says.
Zmitser Bandarenka is kept in Mahiliou penal colony No.15. He told his wife Volha about the unpleasant change in confinement conditions over the telephone. According to Volha Bandarenka, she has no idea what way Zmitser will be walk in a line; even downstairs did he go with care. «How will he stand in freezing temperatures? Freeze is awful for the spine and joints. I can not imagine what jobs Zmitser is able to perform because he has difficulty turning quickly and lifting loads up. It is not easy for him to sit so that he will not work when seated. Why have his confinement conditions been changed? Zmitser had no disciplinary penalties,» Volha Bandarenka says.
The political prisoner refused to make a petition for pardon addressed to Alexander Lukashenka but he asked his wife how she would react on such a step.
Zmitser Bandarenka was sentenced to two years of imprisonment in a minimum-security colony. Soon after the opposition activist’s arrest his chronic illnesses flared up. In July, 2011 he underwent a spine operation in Minsk city clinical hospital No.5
Belsat
