Cancer-stricken BPF leader back in cell after procedure

April 4, Pozirk. Ryhor Kastusioŭ, jailed leader of the outlawed Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) diagnosed with cancer, has been placed in a prison cell immediately after doctors installed a urinary catheter, his son-in-law Dźmitryj Antončyk said on Facebook.
The procedure may be usually performed once every three to four weeks to drain urine or provide treatment, depending on the patient’s needs.
In late February, the United Nations human rights experts expressed their concern at Kastusioŭ’s reported critical condition and ill-treatment, calling on the authorities to grant him a pardon or remission of sentence.
Kastusioŭ, 66, is serving a 10-year prison term after being found guilty of conspiracy to seize power in connection with a Zoom call, in which he said he took part as a listener.
In mid-January, authorities transferred him to a Hrodna prison where he is held in a single cell. The politician’s family members said he complained of deteriorating health.
The prison administration deprived him of visits and confiscated his personal records and correspondence contacts.
Human rights defenders consider Kastusioŭ a political prisoner.
UN rights experts urge Minsk to pardon jailed opposition politician with cancer
- Economy, PoliticsBelarus PM briefs Łukašenka ahead of government visit to KazakhstanThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsUN rights review: Delegates press Belarus on political prisoners, free electionsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja urges New Zealand to boost support of Belarus’ oppositionThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityProsecutors send to court case on irregular migration via Belarus to RussiaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Economy
- EconomyŁukašenka approves key targets for 2026, GDP slated to grow by 2.8 percentThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsNew Zealand urges Minsk to uphold human rightsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja’s aide in UK discusses reforms, aid to exiled BelarusiansThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsCichanoŭskaja visiting New Zealand, AustraliaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- SecurityLithuania sees six-month high in irregular border crossings from BelarusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka plans to visit AlgeriaThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityISW: Russia, Belarus threaten Europe by suggesting they may deploy OreshnikThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Society
- PoliticsMinsk restricts Lithuanian trucks to checkpoints closed by VilniusThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsInterior ministry brands 26 as extremistsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka eyes "grand bargain" with Washington based on his interestsThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsMinsk hints it may keep border crossings to Lithuania, Poland closedThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka accuses Poland of violating a deal on Poczobut's releaseThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- Politics, SecurityZelensky: Russia's Oreshnik missiles in Belarus to threaten EuropeThe material is available only to POZIRK+
- PoliticsŁukašenka claims journalist Pratasievič was a Minsk spy during arrest in 2021The material is available only to POZIRK+


