Corrections Department tells Iryna Khalip that Sannikov “in transit”

Iryna Khalip, the wife of imprisoned presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, visited the Corrections Department today.

She wanted to know why her husband was transferred from a penal colony in Navapolatsk to Babruisk.

She asked where Andrei Sannikov was at the moment and had a short answer “in tansit”.

“I talked to lieutenant colonel Ihar Kotau, a deputy head of one of the departments. I was told that they could not say anything, because the decision was taken by their chiefs. Nevertheless, Kotau said after a telephone call to his chiefs that the transfer was caused by “numerous critical publications about ecological situation in the Navapolatsk colony,” Iryna Khalip says.

The journalist cannot understand why 1,500 persons still remain in this colony, if the Corrections Departments confirms the existing problem.

“Andrei has been in transit for the fourth day, though the distance between the colonies is 200 kilometres. No one knows anything about him. In fact, he disappeared! I am angry with high-ranking police officers, who do not give answers to my questions,” Iryna Khalip said.