Hunger Strike for Kazulin’s Release Could Become Massive

On March 18 Volha Kazulina, a daughter of a political prisoner, a deputy chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic party Ihar Rynkevich, the leader of the Social Democratic Youth Ales Straltsou and a businessman Mikalay Autukhovich have addressed Belarusian and international community with an appeal to start “a relay hunger strike for release of Alyaksandr Kazulin and dismiss criminal persecution against democratic activists of Belarus”.

As said by a former lawyer A. Kazulin, Ihar Rynkevich, his colleagues demand not only immediate release of illegally accused Alyaksandr Kazulin, but termination of criminal prosecution of Andrei Kim, Syarhei Parsyukevich and 12 young activists accused for participation in the meeting of entrepreneurs on January 10”.

Volha Kazulina expressed gratitude to those who are already on hunger strike, and said: “Many people, like Tatsyana Vanina, justly believes that my father was seized and accused after he was marching to the pre-trial detention centre in Akrestsin Street to support defenders of the tent camp. That is why together with T. Vainina we call upon concerned citizens to join the relay hunger strike of solidarity, supporting us for the span of time they can”.

Ales Straltsou reminded that such a relay hunger strike was held in the end of 2006. Then Alyaksandr Kazulin was on hunger strike protesting against lawlessness in the country and “with the aim to attract attention of Belarusian and world community to proposals for overcoming the constitutional crisis”. More than 500 citizens of in Belarus and abroad supported the political prisoner, which allowed Professor Kazulin make some political demands to be fulfilled and stop the hunger strike.

One of the leaders of the movement of small businessmen Mikalay Autukhovich who was recently released from the penal colony by the authorities, starts his hunger strike on March 20. On the evening of this day he, like Tastyana Vanina, joins the hunger strike of solidarity, demanding to stop political repressions in Belarus.

As underlined by Ihar Rynkavich, “a hunger strike with political demands at this conjuncture is not a manifestation of weakness, on the contrary, one of the last resort measures, which shows our moral courage. At the same time, we demonstrate that law arguments for putting persecution of political opponents to the end do not work in Belarus. Only wide solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners would allow releasing them”.

On March 10 brothers Syarhei and Alyaksandr Skrabets started “indefinite hunger strike with a demand to release Alyaksandr Kazulin. Later a civil activist Syarhei Halahanyuk and a former head of the pre-trial detention center of Minsk city executive committee Aleh Alkaeu joined them.