Oppositionist Siarhei Kavalenka is kept in a one-man cell of Vitsebsk detention facility №2, his wife Alena told journalists.
«Last night he was taken here from Minsk. Today the defence lawyer has visited him. Siarhei’s health leaves much to be desired. It is the fourth prison transfer that he has come through, what is sure to be a humiliating treatment of the man prostrated by hunger-striking,» Alena Kavalenka said.
The political prisoner was being kept in this detention facility within the first two months of imprisonment, and most of the time he had to spend in a one-man cell as well, his wife noted. «What troubles me is that he was moved to the place where he had been keeping hunger-striking and where he had been provoked: in particular, they had filmed a video going near not only Siarhei but also his children. For this reason we filed a petition to the Prosecutor’s Office,» the woman said.
The activist of the Conservative Christian Party of the Belarusian People’s Front (CCP-BPF) was repeatedly detained for organising a number of protest actions. In May 2010 Siarhei Kavalenka received three-year suspended sentence for hanging out a white-red-white flag on the 40-meter New Year Tree in the center of Vitsebsk. This action was defined as «major violation of public order».
On December 19, 2011 Kavalenka was arrested in connection with criminal proceedings under Art. 415 of the Criminal Code (evasion of liberty restraint service). Being accused of violation of parole and facing three-year imprisonment on December, 20 he went on hunger-striking in protest.
On April 10, 2012 a panel of Vitsebsk regional court ordered that Siarhei Kavalenka should be subjected to comprehensive mental examination in hospital environment. Later the oppositionist was moved to Navinki psychiatric hospital in Minsk district.
On April 13, 2012 Siarhei Kavalenka quit hunger-striking. According to his wife, the political prisoner made this step not to be found insane.
Belsat
