Political Prisoner Andrei Klimau Left For Serving Punishment :: Charter'97 :: News

The deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the 13th convocation, Andrei Klimau, has left to the place where he is to serve the term. He is sentenced to two years of personal restraint, or “correctional labour”, and is to live in the settlement of Krupki, Minks region. The politician has been sentenced to a year and a half of personal restraint for organizing a protest rally on March 25 this year, demanding Lukashenka’s resignation. “I will use the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in the film “The Terminator” I’ll be back!” It will be the last year for Alyaksandr Lukashenka in power. And let him pray for God that the year 2006 would finish trouble-free. That he would be treated in a civilized way after his vacation of a position. We shall provide a good prison cell for him, and leave him alive,” said the political prisoner to the Charter’97 press center before departure.

It is still unknown where the political prisoner is to work. First of all he is going to go to a fire station, as some time ago he worked as a fireman. Other oppositional politicians sentenced to correctional labour, work as unskilled labourers, though they have higher education. Military engineer Mikola Statkevich works as a repair man, and Paval Sevyarynets, who graduated from geography faculty of the Belarusian State University, works for a logging enterprise. Anrei Klimau is to live in a hostel by the special kommandatura.

From 1998 to 2002 Andrei Klimau spent in prison for allegedly illegal business activities. In November 1996 Klimov was an active supporter of impeachment to president Lukashenka. International observers questioned the fairness of the court and he final verdict of the court, and recognized Andrei Klimau the prisoner of conscience. Last year another action has been brought up against oppositionist for the books written by him. The court of the Pershamajski district of Minsk closed the case in July after a verdict for organizing a street rally on March 25 was delivered to him.

At the moment other persons sentenced to personal restraint or correctional labour in Belarus are the chairman of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Narodnaya Hramada) Mikola Statkevich and the leader of the Young Front Paval Sevyarynets.