Three added to political prisoners list

August 31, BPN. Human rights defenders on August 30 declared three more people political prisoners.

The Viasna Human Rights Center named them as Alaksiej Ivančykaŭ, Andrej Andrejeŭ and Alaksandr Komar. They were sentenced to prison terms of two to three years for alleged resistance to police and threats of violence against internal affairs officers. Komar was also prosecuted for registering with the oppositions Pieramoha plan.

The defenders demanded that their cases should be immediately reviewed.

Apart from Viasna, the statement was signed by Pravavaja Inicyjatyva and Belarusian PEN.

A total of 1,309 political prisoners have been registered in Belarus, but the real figure must be even higher because, according to activists, some political detainees cannot contact them, or do not want to for fear of repercussions.