Political Prisoner Valery Levaneuski Placed to Penal Isolation Ward :: Charter'97 :: News

The leader of the Strike Committee of Vendors Valery Levaneuski has been placed to a penal isolation ward of Ivatsevichy colony number 22. Besides, a meeting with relatives scheduled for January 31 is banned for him. The Charter’97 was informed about that by his son, Uladzimir Levaneuski.

As said by Uladzimir Levaneuski, the administration of the colony refuses to inform about the reason of the punishment.

On September 7, 2004 court of the Lenin district of Hrodna found Valery Levaneuski, the chairman of the All-National Strike Committee of Vendors, member of the Council of Civil Initiatives “Free Belarus”, and Alyaksandr Vasilyeu, deputy chairman of the All-National Strike Committee of Vendors, guilty of public slander of Belarusian President connected with a grave crime (Article 368 Part 2 of the Criminal Code), and sentenced them to two years of imprisonment in minimum-security correctional labour facility. It was written in the verdict that the sentence “Come and say that you are against somebody’s skiing in Austria at your expense”, printed in leaflets, contains insult of honour and dignity of the president of the Republic of Belarus.

Valery Levaneuski went on long hunger strikes while in the colony number 22 in Ivatsevichy many times. He protested against violations of his rights and of the rights of other political prisoners. Another hunger strike was announced on January 7, 2006, and it lasts until now. The vendor demands to annul unjust punishments by the administration of the colony. He has been prohibited to meet with his family and buy products in a prison shop. In December 2005 Levaneuski was not allowed to leave the colony to attend funeral of his father.

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