Political prisoner Aliaksandr Frantskevich in solitary confinement for third time this year

Tatsiana Frantskevich, mother of the imprisoned anarchist, is going to Ivatsevichy colony together with a lawyer to learn about her son’s health. Aliaksandr Frantskevich has only one kidney, and his mother is afraid that being held in a punishment cell could harm his physical condition.

Tatsiana Frantskevich said she received a phone called from a former inmate of Ivatsevichy prison, who told her that Aliaksandr was placed in a punishment cell for 10 days for refusing to obey an order to clean up the territory of the penal colony. Such work is considered offensive among prisoners.

In two days, the additional penalty period will be over, and the prisoner is going to be visited by a lawyer.

"If everything goes as planned, I'll go to the colony with the lawyer. I just can’t stay in Navapolatsk – I want to know right away how my son is doing," says Tatsiana Frantskevich.

She believes that the pressure on her son is due to the desire of the prison administration to break his morale. During the year, Aliaksandr Frantskevich has been put in solitary confinement for three times already. First, in August when he was accused of disobeying the orders of the administration. Then, in November, for refusing to appear for security measures.

In May 2011, Aliaksandr Frantskevich was sentenced to three years' imprisonment for involvement in "the anarchists’ case." He was accused of setting fire to a number of government buildings, as well as breaking into the website of Navapolatsk town authorities. The activist pled not guilty. The political prisoner is serving his sentence in Ivatsevichy-based penal colony “Vouchyja Nory” (“Wolves’ Holes”).