Cichanoŭskaja’s office denies rumors of her husband’s death

February 13, BPN. Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja’s office denies rumors that her husband, Siarhiej Cichanoŭski, has died in prison.

“A lawyer met with him last week, and we made another check yesterday. Siarhiej is fine,” a spokeswoman for Cichanoŭskaja, Hanna Krasulina, told BPN.

Rumors of the former presidential hopeful’s death spread on February 12, two days before his new trial. On February 14, a court in Žodzina, Minsk region, will hear the case of malicious disobedience to demands of the prison’s administration.

Cichanoŭski was arrested in late May 2020 a few months before the presidential election, in which he intended to run against the incumbent. The Homiel Regional Court sentenced him to 18 years in prison in December 2021 under four articles of the Criminal Code. The sentence was widely regarded as political retaliation.

On June 28, the KGB put the popular bogger and activist on the list of persons involved in “terrorist” activities.