Belarus opposition chief says nameless message alleges that her husband died in jail

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarusian opposition chief Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya stated Tuesday that she had acquired an nameless message alleging that her imprisoned husband, additionally an opposition determine, died behind bars.

Siarhei Tsikhanouski, 44, a preferred blogger and opposition activist, was arrested in 2020 after asserting plans to run towards Belarus‘ authoritarian chief, Alexander Lukashenko, in presidential elections that yr. His spouse ran towards Lukashenko in his stead after the arrest, rallying giant crowds of individuals in her help throughout the nation.

Official outcomes of the election handed Lukashenko his sixth time period in workplace however had been denounced by the opposition and the West as fraudulent. Amid unprecedented protests that broke out within the aftermath of the vote, Tsikhanouskaya left the nation below strain from the authorities. Her husband was later sentenced to 19 1/2 years in jail on fees of organizing mass riots.

Tsikhanouskaya advised The Associated Press on Tuesday that she hadn’t acquired any information from her husband since early March – letters to him are now not being delivered, and his lawyer hasn’t been allowed to see him.

“I don’t know anything about him. I haven’t received a single letter, and there’s been no communication through his lawyer,” Tsikhanouskaya advised the AP in written feedback. She added that on the similar time she didn’t have any proof the declare within the nameless be aware was true, however demanded the authorities “provide proof that Siarhei is alive and show him.”

Tsikhanouski will not be the one imprisoned opposition determine whose destiny is shrouded in thriller. It’s been 67 days since anybody heard something from Viktar Babaryka, a former banker who additionally deliberate to run for president in 2020. His supporters fear that he was crushed up and put in a jail hospital. He was on account of seem in courtroom and testify within the trial of his son, which started on May 22, however missed the listening to.

It’s been over 5 months since any information emerged about Maria Kolesnikova, Babaryka’s marketing campaign supervisor, who was additionally arrested in 2020 and sentenced to 11 years in jail. According to a latest assertion by Amnesty International, Kolesnikova hasn’t been allowed to make cellphone calls, write letters or see her household or legal professionals since mid-February.

Another opposition determine, Nikolai Statkevich, is serving a 14-year sentence and hasn’t been heard from for 145 days.

“It’s a new deliberate policy by the authorities to keep opposition leaders in full information isolation,” Pavel Sapelko from Belarus‘ outstanding rights group Viasna advised the AP. “It’s an attempt by the authorities to pressure not just political prisoners, who are being deprived of contact with the outside world and are held in horrible conditions, but their families, as well, who are forced to live without any information about their loved ones.”

The Belarusian authorities haven’t commented on the scenario.

According to Viasna, a complete of 1,501 political prisoners are presently behind bars in Belarus.