Dzmitry Kremianetski: They boycotted the election in Akrestsina as well

On September 25 the activists Dzmitry Kremianetski, Yahor Viniatski and the brothers Aliaksei and Andrei Dvaretski were released from the orison in Akrestsina street.

The boycott campaign’s activist Dzmitry Kremianetski was detained in the street on 21 September and accused of insubordination to the police and alcohol drinking and sentenced for five days in prison.

Three days before that in a rally for the boycott of the election Yahor Viniatski was detained, who was sentenced to seven days. The Dvaretski brothers were sentenced to 3 days for sticking leaflets calling for the boycott, Radio Svaboda reports.

Dzmitry Kremianetski told that now it is very cold in the Akrestsina prison: the temperature in the cells goes as low as to 10 degrees in the night as the heating is not functioning yet. “I received a parcel with a sleeping bag but I was still freezing”, - the activist says. Despite the risk of receiving additional term in prison Kremianetski as well as Pavel Vinahradau and Aliaksandr Artsybashau refused to vote during the elections. The elections were boycotted by other prisoners in their cells as well.

“On Sunday morning a prisons official came to our cell and asked if we were going to vote. I said that the whole our cell was boycotting. The rest of the prisoners confirmed that. Then they started to take people out of the cell one by one and ask again, but everyone again refused. I was the last one to be taken out. They led me to a man wearing glasses sitting by the ballot box. I refused to vote again and he ordered to take me back to the cell. Later I found out that the same thing happened in the cell where Vinahradau and Artsybashau were sitting. In the evening all three of us – me, Vinahradau and Artsybashau – were taken outside, given brooms and ordered to sweep the courtyard. We refused to do that and a protocol for insubordination was composed. They said that on the ground of such a protocol the head of the prison could personally ad 5 days of imprisonment to every one of us. But I was released today – it all went well”, Dzmitry Kremianetski said.