Belarusian authorities should immediately end the ill-treatment of Maria Kalesnikava and all the other political prisoners, 24 international and Belarusian rights groups said today. Kalesnikava is being held in solitary confinement and is not receiving adequate medical care despite serious health problems. She is being denied essential foods and medicines.
Kalesnikava has had no contact with her family or lawyer for almost four months. Credible reports that she has been ill-treated by penal colony management and that her health has deteriorated are a source of deep concern.
Kalesnikava is a prominent opposition figure, musician, and symbol of the peaceful protest movement for human rights in Belarus. She has been held behind bars since September 2020, after she resisted an attempt by the authorities to forcefully expel her from the country in retaliation for her political activism and her membership in the opposition's Coordination Council for the Transfer of Power.
On September 6, 2021, she was sentenced to 11 years in prison on bogus charges of "extremism," "trying to seize power," and "calls for actions causing harm to the national security." She is serving her sentence in female penal colony N4 in Homiel.
On the night of November 28, 2022, Kalesnikava was admitted to the intensive care unit of Homiel's emergency hospital where she underwent surgery for a perforated ulcer. Immediately prior to being admitted to the hospital, Kalesnikava had spent over 10 days in a freezing punishment isolation cell despite having serious health concerns. Her cell was so cold that she could not sleep at all, so she walked constantly to keep warm.
Although Kalesnikava fainted repeatedly and suffered from high blood pressure and nausea while in solitary confinement, the authorities refused to transfer her to the hospital until her health significantly deteriorated.
