Mikola Statkevich Declared Hunger Strike of Protest :: Charter'97 :: News

The trial over the chairman of the Belarusian Social Democrat Party (Narodnaya Hramada), a coordinator of the European Coalition “Free Belarus” Mikola Statkevich and one of the leaders of the “young Front” Paval Sevyarynets continues. They are charged with organizing demonstrations against rigged results of the parliamentary elections and referendum on October 18 and 19, 2004. Mikola Statkevich is guarded to the court, as the judge of the Tsentralny district of Minsk Leanid Yasinovich punished him by a 10-day arrest for contempt of a court. Mikola Statkevich declared a hunger strike of protest against the humiliating conditions of imprisonment.

The politician believes that the policemen and workers of the special detention center have created unbearable conditions for him. After the verdict had been delivered to him, he was kept in the ward in the police alert unit for a long time, and after that transported in a special bus around Minsk for a long time. Only late at night Mikola Statkevich was taken to the special detention center in Akrestsyn Street.

“There are 5 more prisoners in the ward. They all had been in colonies for several times, but they are calm. One of them is suffering from dysentery. I know what this disease is like from my experience of an officer transporting soldiers from the North to deserts for military exercises. He is not hospitalized, but he feels bad. He shows all signs of dehydrating. He is lying all the time. I have an impression that an ill person is used like a bacteriological weapon, in order to put pressure on me, to change my behaviour by the threat of catching disease. In fact, I have the only way to stop this victimization, that is to go on hunger strike,” told Mikola Statkevich to Radio Svaboda.

On May 26 the court is to study video materials prepared by police and special services.