Belarus artists urged to draw postcards in support of minor political prisoner Mikita Zalatarou
The Amnesty International human rights watchdog and the independent Belarusian Council of Culture have announced a joint action in support of 17-year-old political prisoner Mikita Zalatarou.
The main idea of the action is making postcards that will help spread information about Mikita’s situation, draw attention to the fate of the underage political prisoner as well as support the young man.
The campaigners urge artists to draw postcards dedicated to Mikita’s issue, leave their name or pseudonym and send the work in its electronic form to eurasia@amnesty.org. Moreover, everyone who would like to can send a paper postcard directly to Mikita:
Мікіта Залатароў / Mikita Zalatarou
Выхаваўчая калонія №2,
вул. Батава 4, г. Бабруйск,
231800 Магілёўская вобласць.
Беларусь / Belarus
One can also sign an online appeal for the release of Mikita Zalatarou.
In February 2021, Mikita Zalatarou (he was 16 at that moment) was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment in a correctional colony for ‘violence against an internal affairs officer’, ‘illegal actions with flammable substances’, and ‘organising mass riots’. The teenager was detained on August 11, 2020; in accordance with the investigators’ version, he threw Molotov cocktails at the military. Mikita pleaded not guilty.
Mikita Zalatarou suffers from epilepsy. The young man and his father say that Mikita was beaten in the both police station and pre-trial detention centre in August and late December. In turn, the officials claimed the internal check showed no elements of the violence against the arrestee. The prison authorities also refused to provide him with anti-epileptic drugs, Mikita said.
In the summer of 2021, Mikita Zalatarou was accused of using violence against an officer of the pre-trial detention centre and threatening another employee and her family. In mid July, a Homiel court sentenced him to another 1.5 years of imprisonment. The defendant admitted his guilt, but according to him, ‘it was not violence, but resistance’; he claims that he voiced threats in a state of emotional conflict, with no intention to carry them out.
The Belarusian human rights authorities recognised Mikita Zalatarou as a political prisoner; Amnesty International called on the Belarusian authorities to immediately release the young man.
belsat.eu
