Navapolatsk: Political prisoner placed in solitary confinement for six months, tortured by cold
Ihar Povarau, a political prisoner from Zhlobin, is put to torture in Navapolatsk penal colony Nr 1, the human rights centre Viasna reports.
The former worker of Zhlobin Metallurgical Plant was placed in solitary confinement for 6 months. With regard to confinement conditions, it can be compared to a maximum security penal colony.
Moreover, Ihar Povarau is reportedly tortured by the cold in prison. Now, when the weather is wintry, the colony authorities intentionally keep leaving the window in his cell opened, which leads to Ihar’s being exposed to low temperatures.
Povarau was detained on 23 November 2020 and taken into custody. He was accused of staging a strike at the enterprise he worked for on August 17. Ihar and several other employees were charged under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code (‘organisation and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them’). As a result, the defendant was sentenced to three years of imprisonment in a minimum security penal colony.
The Belarusian human rights community listed him as a political prisoner.
