Political prisoner dies behind bars – rights group

January 13, Pozirk. Vadzim Chraśko died of pneumonia in the early hours of January 9 and was buried three days later in Minsk, the Viasna Human Rights Center reported.

He was reportedly hospitalized when it was already too late to save him.

Police arrested Chraśko in April for several donations to opposition initiatives. In early August, judge Siarhiej Chrypač sentenced him to three years in prison despite serious illness.

Chraśko was branded as a person “involved in extremist activities” after the Supreme Court had rejected his appeal in October. He had been held at Penal Colony No 3 in Viciebsk for about two months before his death.

Chraśko was the fourth person known to have died behind bars after being imprisoned in politically-motivated cases, the others being Vitold Ašurak, Mikałaj Klimovič and prominent artist Aleś Puškin.