Politician Kastusioŭ to be transferred from penal colony to prison

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.
- PoliticsŁatuška proposes making grand bargain with Minsk conditional on ending repression, migration crisis and war supportThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja speaks of political prisoners at high-level dinnerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsUCP leader Kazłoŭ says he fled Belarus because of surveillanceThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, Security, Society
- PoliticsUCP leader, after leaving Belarus vows to continue political activity abroadThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyŁukašenka calls for boosting ongoing projects with MordoviaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsProsecutors forward to court case against ex-Kalinoŭski fighter ŠabuckiThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- PoliticsŁukašenka eyes series about JFK's killerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyMinsk, Minsk region account for half of GDP in January-SeptemberThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyHousing construction up 10.2 percent in January-SeptemberThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SportUkraine pushes to ban two Belarusian neutral athletes from competitionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyDead Nazi collaborator on trial at Supreme CourtThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- EconomyBiełstat: Belarusian companies’ CapEx up 31 percent in January-SeptemberThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityGeneral Staff chief pledges to expand military ties with VietnamThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SocietyFarm official suspected of taking bribes from foreignerThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityGeneral Staff chief off to VietnamThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy, PoliticsŁukašenka gave Mašenski’s company preferential treatment in dealings with Biełšyna, says BelPolThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsBiełaja Ruś party signs cooperation roadmap with Cuban communistsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityIrregular migration from Belarus to EU up 20 percent year-on-yearThe material is available only to POZIRK+