Anatol Bokun, co-chairman of the Belaruskali striking committee, has already been sentenced to 100 days of administrative detention since September 2020.
Anatol Bokun was detained on May 8. The law enforcers arrested him at his home. A report was drawn up for alleged participation in an “unauthorized protest action” (Article 24.23 of the Administrative Code). On 11 May, Judge Blotski arrested Bokun for 30 days.
On May 19, the strike co-chair was tried again: he was fined 10 basic units (290 rubles) under Article 24.57 of the Administrative Code (“Illegal organization of a public association”). Finally, the third trial took place on May 31st: Bokun was punished with another 15 days of arrest for alleged “disobedience to police” (Article 24.3 of the CAO).
In May, Anatol Bokun was kept in an isolation ward in Salihorsk. According to Anatol’s friends, the co-chairman of the Belaruskali strike committee is under pressure behind bars, with unbearable conditions created for him, said a man from the same cell who had already been released.
“Anatol receives no parcels, there are no personal hygiene products, no bedding, no mattress. They wake him up twice a night,” Bokun’s friend told belsat.eu.
Bokun’s mother, Uladzislava Mikhailauna, has confirmed that he had received no parcels in the Salihorsk detention center.
Now Bokun has been transferred to the detention center in Staryie Darohi. We don’t know the activist’s conditions there. The mother of the protest leader was promised in jail that on Monday she would be able to deliver a parcel to her son.
Anatol Bokun worked as a mechanic at the sylvinite thickening plant of Belaruskali First Mining Authority. In August 2020, he became one of the leaders of the Belaruskali strike committee and was fired.
Since the summer of 2020, he was regularly repressed by the security services for his social activities. He was periodically detained. In September-October 2020, Bokun served 55 days of administrative detention. Considering the trials in May (30 + 15 days), he has been sentenced to a total of 100 days of arrest since the start of the protests.
Representatives of the Belarusian diaspora abroad have repeatedly held actions of solidarity with Anatol Bokun.
