August 28, Pozirk. The Viasna Human Rights Center has not confirmed Mediazona‘s report that a political prisoner died in Žodzina last year.
According to Mediazona Belarus, in November 2022, a judge sentenced the man to three years in a penal colony on charges of inciting hatred, rioting, calling for sanctions, libeling the head of state and insulting an official. He later died of hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage, the reporter said citing some documents.
However, Viasna said the November trials did not involve this set of charges. In addition, authorities started trying critics for calls for sanctions only in 2023, the group added.
Mediazona reported that the man had been convicted by a district court, but Viasna noted that these cases usually go to higher courts.
