Babaryka’s situation signals mistreatment of prisoners of conscience – Poland

April 29, BPN. Reports relating to Viktar Babaryka’s health are another signal that Belarusian prisoners of conscience are being mistreated, the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on April 27.

“For months, it has been impossible to contact many imprisoned representatives of Belarusian civil society,” it said.

“The responsibility for the life and health of those unjustly detained lies entirely with the authorities in Minsk,” it added. “We expect that families be immediately allowed regular contact with their loved ones kept in prisons and that their fundamental rights be respected.”

Warsaw called for the release of all political prisoners, including Andrej Pačobut (Andrzej Poczobut), a Polish minority activist and journalist.

The German envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Gesa Bräutigam, tweeted that Babaryka and all other political prisoners in Belarus “must be released immediately.”

“Very concerned by reports about Viktar Babaryka having been severely beaten up and hospitalized. His family and lawyer must receive access immediately to see him!” wrote Matthias Lüttenberg, a senior diplomat at the German Federal Foreign Office.

EU spokesman Peter Stano said the bloc was concerned by the hospitalization of former presidential hopeful Babaryka “w/ signs of beating.” He said this wasn’t “the first such case among close to 1,500 political prisoners.” Belarusian dissident Vitold Ašurak “even died in prison,” he added.

Marko Koplimaa, Estonia’s envoy for the Belarusian democratic forces, expressed deep concern about Babaryka’s reported hospitalization. “We will closely follow updates on his condition and urge the regime in Belarus to comply with all international obligations protecting fundamental rights of political prisoners,” he tweeted.

“We are closely watching reports of Belarusian political prisoner Viktar Babaryka’s sudden hospitalization. The regime in Belarus bears full responsibility for the health and well-being of Viktar Babaryka and its 1,490+ other political prisoners. We call for their immediate release,” wrote Michael Carpenter, the US envoy to the OSCE.

The former presidential hopeful was transferred from a penal colony to a civilian hospital in Navapołack, Viciebsk region, on April 25, reports say. Medics were supposedly draining fluid from his lungs before yesterday’s announcement from his team that “his whereabouts and condition are unknown.”