September 2, Pozirk. Jailed opposition activist Maryja Kaleśnikava weighs 45 kilograms at her height of 1.75 m and cannot eat much from the prison menu due to her health condition, her sister Taćciana Chomič has said on Facebook.
Kaleśnikava has been held incommunicado for more than 560 days, while her family members are forced to seek news about her from current and former inmates, she noted.
Prison wardens are slowly murdering Kaleśnikava by refusing her the diet she needs and by withholding communication with her family. “Maša does not know if her father is alive and how he is feeling. We don’t know how she is being fed and treated,” Chomič said.
Prison authorities ignore family’s requests for information, she added.
Chomič urged authorities to provide her sister with the necessary food and arrange for medical examination and treatment, as well as to allow her family members to see her and communicate with her.
In September 2021, Kaleśnikava, a spokeswoman for the campaign of former presidential hopeful Viktar Babaryka, was given 11 years in prison on charges widely seen as politically motivated.
In November 2022, the woman underwent surgery at Homiel’s emergency hospital, where she was taken in serious condition. She was diagnosed with peritonitis.
Kaleśnikava reportedly suffers from high blood pressure and may be deprived of necessary medical care behind bars.
The activist is the only female political prisoner in Belarus held incommunicado, according to her former ally and Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja.
