Political prisoner Vasil Berasneu hospitalized, a kidney transplant needed
Vasil Berasneu, a political prisoner in the ”case of independent trade unions", who is serving his sentence in Mahileu penal colony No. 15, was urgently sent to the Mahileu Regional Hospital.
Even during his stay in the pre-trial detention center, Vasil's health condition deteriorated significantly: the most dangerous thing is that he suffers from pain in his only kidney. However, his health situation is so critical that medical treatment does not make sense. A kidney transplant is needed. For a long time, there was no reaction to the numerous requests and statements of the prisoner who demanded medical assistance or referral for examination. Against the background of health problems, his blood pressure has increased significantly and now it is necessary to take appropriate medications daily.
Human rights activist Ihar Kazmerchak does not hide his concern about this situation:
"Indeed, the situation is critical. If a transplant is really necessary, you need to ring all the bells immediately.
At this age, such sentences are not normal; I'm not even talking about the fact that he was accused of a non-existent crime. In the current situation, we should spread the information about Vasil Berasneu's health as much as possible. Essentially, this is another attempt to simply bring a political prisoner to a tragedy."
73-year-old Vasil Berasneu is the leader of the Orsha independent Trade Union of Radioelectronic Industry Workers and its acting chairman. He was detained on April 19, 2022 as part of a criminal case. The man was placed in a pre-trial detention center and charged with calling for actions aimed at harming the national security of Belarus (Article 361 of the Criminal Code), creation of an extremist formation or participation in it (Articles 361-1 of the Criminal Code), incitement of hatred or enmity (Article 130 of the Criminal Code).
On January 5, 2023, Vasil was found guilty together with other activists of Belarusian independent trade unions. As joint punishment, Anastasia Papko sentenced Vasil Berasneu to nine years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.
The appeal against the verdict was considered in the Supreme Court. On April 3, 2023, the judicial board, chaired by judge Piotr Listratsenka, decided to leave the verdict unchanged, and the complaints without satisfaction.
"I'm probably just going to die here": The situation of political prisoners from vulnerable groups
