Opposition leader’s husband placed in punishment cell

August 28, BPN. Former presidential hopeful and video blogger Siarhiej Cichanoŭski has been placed in a punishment cell after his transfer to a prison in Žodzina, Minsk region, his wife, Belarusian opposition leader Sviatłana Cichanoŭskaja, reported in her Telegram channel. 

She noted that her husband is deprived of correspondence and cannot receive parcels. He also cannot “use his belongings, is forced to sleep on bare boards without a mattress or bed linen, and is forbidden to purchase food and basic necessities.” 

In December 2021, the popular video blogger was sentenced to 18 years in a reinforced regime colony. In August 2022, a court in Mahiloŭ ruled to transfer him to a prison for the next three years. 

The defendants in the Cichanoŭski case were accused of multiple crimes, such as organizing mass riots, inciting social hatred and discord and obstructing the work of the central election commission.

In June 2022, the Committee for the State Security (KGB) added Cichanoŭski to the list of persons involved in “terrorist activities.”

Human rights defenders say his persecution is politically motivated.