Some letters burned in front of political prisoners – activist

December 11, BPN. Political prisoners in Belarus experience a “terrible” situation with access to correspondence, said Alena Panamarova, an activist running campaign encouraging people to write letters to people imprisoned on politically-motivated charges.

The Warsaw-based Belarusian Youth Hub has hosted writing sessions since November 2021.

“In some cases, people are simply deprived of correspondence,” Panamarova said. “We know of cases when they [prison authorities] just burned letters in front of people. They are humiliated that way. Or they are forced to put down a signature to confirm that letters have come, but they do not receive them.”

“Of course, it’s very hard when you know your work is often done in vain,” the activist added.

However, a significant portion of letters still reach the addressees, she noted.

In one year of the initiative’s existence, its members have mailed over 1,800 letters to Belarus, Panamarova added.

As of December 11, human rights defenders identified at least 1,437 political prisoners.