English

Hunger-striking opposition activist Syarhey Kavalenka being force-fed in Vitsyebsk jail

The administration of a detention center in Vitsyebsk began force-feeding Syarhey Kavalenka on Monday to abort the opposition activist's month-long hunger strike.

The wife of Mr. Kavalenka, Alena, learned that from a doctor on Wednesday after arriving at the detention center with a parcel of juice.

"I brought the parcel in hopes that Syarhey had decided to end his protest," the woman told BelaPAN. "The doctor refused to accept it but told me that my husband was being fed broth through a tube."

According to Mrs. Kavalenka, her husband continues to refuse food. "Force-feeding is a form of torture," she said. "Giving broth to a person who has been hungry for a month is like giving him meat. Any doctor would confirm that this might kill him. Syarhey needs juices right and hospital treatment."

Mrs. Kavalenka said that she had received many letters from the jail doctor who urged her to persuade the inmate to start eating. "Meanwhile, I have thrice been denied permission to see Syarhey," she said. "In his most recent reply, the investigator writes that such a meeting would be 'inexpedient.' I had actually written in my request that I was seeking a meeting with my husband to get him to end his hunger strike."

In May 2010, Syarhey Kavalenka, a member of the Conservative Christian Party, was given a three-year suspended prison sentence after creating a scandal by putting a white-red-white flag on top of Vitsyebsk's tallest Christmas tree in early January 2010.

The obscene language charge was brought against Mr. Kavalenka after he visited the Pershamayski district police station in Vitsyebsk on November 24, 2011, to report to a probation officer, which he was required to do on a weekly basis. Police arrived at Mr. Kavalenka's home right after his return, announced that he had been charged with the use of obscene language, and took him to the district police station. He was later placed in a detention center and held there for five days.

On December 19, Mr. Kavalenka was arrested at home on a charge of violating probation rules four times. He has been on hunger strike since then.

On January 12, a judge of the Pershamayski District Court in Vitsyebsk found Mr. Kavalenka guilty of using obscene language in a public place, which means that the suspension of his prison sentence may now be revoked.