Call for solidarity with imprisoned comrades from Belarus
It has been a long time since the last call for solidarity with the Belarusian anarchists appeared. Today we have to admit that the new wave of solidarity is needed urgently to help them out from the prison.
That’s why we call you to participate in days of action in solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners on 22nd-23rd of September (parliament election day is 23rd) .
The activists Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Artsiom Prakapenka, Pavel Syramolatau, Aliaksandr Frantskievich, Jauhen Vas’kovich that were detained in autumn 2010 and winter 2011 and then sentenced to 3 to 8 years of prison in May 2011 for a series of attacks on state and capital symbols are finishing their second year in jail. During this time their comrades and relatives did their best to help them feel comfortable in custody and set them free. In October 2011 they were acknowledged political prisoners by right-watch organizations. This fact gave them bigger chances to be freed as soon as possible, because at the moment the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, faces pressure from the European Union with the demands to set free all the political prisoners and decriminalize them. From August 2011 he has already pardoned more than 30 of them, but none of our comrades was granted freedom. Lukashenko said publicly, that he will pardon only those, who will write the petition for pardon, thus admitting their guilt and asking him personally for mercy. All the rest will remain in prison, he stated. In fact all imprisoned anarchists were many times asked if they want to sign such petition. Five of them refused to do it. Artsiom Prakapenka signed it under pressure but he is still in prison. Now there are 15 political prisoners left in Belarus, among them are 5 our comrades and 1 more, imprisoned for the action of solidarity with them. All the prisoners are experiencing different kinds of pressure from the administration of the prisons they are held in*, because Lukashenko wants to be a winner in this situation and make it as if it is not the EU that forces him to set free the political prisoners in fear of more political and economic sanctions, but as if it is his good will to pardon them, again only if they ask for it. We strongly oppose the fact that our comrades are now traded for benefits form the EU and condemn the pressure that they experience*. We call everybody to protest against these tortures and demand the immediate liberation of the political prisoners of Belarus, including anarchists.
We welcome solidarity actions of ANY kind starting from now on to accumulate amount of it on days of solidarity, we also ask you to make solidarity actions at least once a month if you find it possible even after the days of solidarity. We need constant pressure on the regime and the EU politicians in this situation.
The International of Anarchist Federations, August 2012.
An Update on the situatoin of Belarusion anarchist prisoners:
Mikalai Dziadok (4,5 years) is finishing his 3rd month in a solitary cell after having refused to work on Saturdays. Work is obligatory in Belarusian penal colonies, but is regulated by the Labour Code, which prescribes that a person shouldn’t work more than 40 hours a week. Mikalai was forced to work more on Saturdays, but refused to do so. He was punished with 6 months of solitary confinement on June 1st. During this period he is deprived of all dates, phone calls and food supply from the outside.
Ihar Alinevich (8 years) served 14 days in a punishment cell for refusing to clean the inner yard of the colony. This work is done only by certain prisoners who relate to the downcasts*. Thus, the prison administration tries to make him the downcast as well. In Belarusian prisons the downcasts do all the dirty work, eat and work in the distance, they are objects of humiliation and often used for sex by other prisoners. The pressure can be the result of the fact that Ihar’s mother started publishing his prison diaries. Earlier he refused to sign a petition for mercy.
Aliaksandr Frantskevich (3 years) was put in a punishment cell for refusing to clean the cell, which is the work for the downcasts. Before that he was visited by a top-rank policemen, who had organised the arrests of anarchists in autumn 2010. He tried to intimidate Aliaksandr and hinted at the necessity to sign the petition for mercy. Moreover, other prisoners get punished for having contacts with Aliaksandr.
Jauhen Vas’kovish (7 years) doesn’t receive any letters from people other than his parents. The censor only shows him empty envelopes. He informed that he had also been asked to sign the petition for mercy, but refused to do so.
Artsiom Prakapenka (7 years) conducts a hunger strike since August 8th and is now in a punishment cell. Artsiom was forced to work in the first shift, thus he cannot make a special vegetarian lunch for himself, as he had done before, when he worked in the second shift. He also refused to sigh the petition for pardon and receives letters only from parents.
Pavel Syramolatau (7 years) signed the petition for pardon in June, but has not been released so far.
* There is a strict hierarchy in post-soviet prisons, according to which several “casts” are distinguished. Every cast has a certain scope of rights and duties. The hierarchy is now not so strict as before, but still the prison authority has to put up with it. Sometimes it uses the hierarchy in its own interests.
“Blatnye” – professional criminals, part of ‘mafia’ or organised groups outside of prison, are on top of the hierarchy. They are in charge of illegal supply of food, tea, cigarettes and cell phones in prison. They guarantee the ‘prison law’ and judge conflicts between other prisoners. Usually don’t work.
“Muzhiki” – ordinary prisoners, the most numerous group. They work, don’t fight for the power in prison, don’t collaborate with the prison administration.
“Kozly” (trusties, ‘activists’) – prisoners, openly collaborating with the prison authority, working for the administration (librarians, different managers, etc.). It is frowned on to get in touch with this cast.
“Opuschennye” (the downcasts) – gays, people that are used for sex (even if they are not gay), prisoners, sentenced for paedophilia, rapists, and people that get in touch with the previously mentioned. It is enough to take something from the downcast, to touch him or to eat with him at one table to be considered a downcast as well. They don’t have any rights and usually do the dirty work – washing toilets, etc. They always live separated from other prisoners.
The prison authority tried to break the ‘laws’ and mix all kinds of prisoners, but it always resulted in mass disorders and suicide attempts. For any prisoner it is better to die or get punished than to be labelled a downcast by others and serve the rest of the sentence in humiliation. It is almost impossible to change your cast.
İstanbul Sultangazi’de polis karakoluna gerçekleştirdiği saldırıda yaşamını yitiren İbrahim Çuhadar’ın cenazesini almak isterken polis şiddetine maruz kalarak 28 kişiyle birlikte gözaltına alınan Grup Yorum üyesi Selma Altın’ın gözaltında sağ kulak zarı yırtıldı.
