January 16, Pozirk. A Belarusian judge has ruled to transfer Ryhor Kastusioŭ, leader of the outlawed Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), from a penal colony to a prison, the politician’s son-in-law Dźmitryj Antončyk said on Facebook.
The hearing reportedly took place via video link. Kastusioŭ’s family members do not know where he will be transferred and when.
Police arrested him in April 2021 in a high-profile coup d’état case. In September 2022, authorities sentenced him to 10 years in prison on charges of conspiracy to seize power. The politician pleaded not guilty.
In late November 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the sentence. About a week later, the interior ministry added his name to the register of persons involved in extremist activities.
Kastusioŭ, 66, has cancer and spent some time in hospital in April.
In June and July, prison authorities placed him in a punishment cell at least four times for the term of 10 days. He was deprived of visits, personal records and correspondence contacts and has been held in the colony’s internal prison since November 11. Human rights groups consider him a political prisoner.
Last August, authorities dissolved the BPF, but it continues operating abroad.
