Political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny walks free after 6 ½ years in prison
Political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny on a train taking him home in the morning of February 19, 2021, after spending 6 1/2 years in prison. Photo: svaboda.org
Mikhail Zhamchuzhny, a 65-year-old political prisoner and human rights activist, was released this morning from penal colony No. 9 in the city of Horki, Mahilioŭ region, RFE/RL’s Belarus service said.
Earlier, he was serving his sentence in the penitentiaries of Navasady and Ivacevičy. The convict spent months in punishment cells for allegedly disobeying the administration. According to his lawyer, Zhamchuzhny repeatedly breached prison rules to avoid bullying from other prisoners, which he said threatened his personal safety.
On June 10, 2015, the Viciebsk Regional Court found him guilty of inciting the deliberate disclosure of information constituting an official secret, illegal acquisition of funds for purchasing classified data, and bribery. The country’s human rights community called Mikhail Zhamchuzhny a political prisoner.
