Iryna Bagdanava: It’s illusion of another “liberalisation”

Redetermining the nature of offences to the political prisoners is another absurd invention of the investigation.

In such a way a sister of Andrei Sannikov Iryna Bahdanava has commented on the “attenuation” of charges to Iryna Khalip, Zmitser Bandarenka, Paval Sevyarynets and Syarhei Martsaleu, announced by the Interior Affairs Ministry today.

“Today the Belarusian authorities have changed the charges for a number of political prisoners, trying to create an illusion of another “liberalization”, but in reality they do not change their approaches to reprisals used against their political opponents. Even at the level of everyday life, they are toughening the regulations of custody in remand prisons. A few days ago a rule was developed and adopted for this very purpose. Under this rule parcels could be brought to the KGB remand prison inmates not 3 times a week as before, but only 2 times a month. And this is done even though most political prisoners today badly need medicines because of the developed health problems,” believes the sister of the arrested presidential candidate.

“Changing the charges is one more absurd invention of the investigation, which cannot find an article in the Criminal Code to accuse the absolutely innocent people. Besides, the Belarusian authorities have confused the cause and effect – the economic sanctions have not been a result of rigged election results, but of beating, tortures and criminal prosecution of people, who had not committed any criminal offence. Today this all continues, and that is exactly why new economic sanctions would be imposed by the countries of the European Union, though the people behind the bars could not be able to call upon such measures as it is physically infeasible,” Iryna Bahdanava is convinced.