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Wife visits Syarhey Kavalenka at psychiatric hospital

Convicted opposition activist Syarhey Kavalenka was visited by his wife at the Navinki psychiatric hospital in Minsk on Friday.

As Alena Kavalenka told BelaPAN, her meeting with her 37-year-old spouse lasted 20 minutes.

"Syarhey is in a better mood, he looks better but still has health problems," the woman said. "He has kidney problems caused by the actions of the doctors at the Vitsba 3 prison who catheterized him."

The woman revealed that prison officers at Vitsba 3 had prevented her husband from sleeping at night and made him share a cell with people at the very bottom of prison hierarchy who are shunned by fellow inmates. "Moreover, Syarhey attempted to cut his wrists in protest against the fact that they tried to put such inmates into his cell and that he had not been brought [to court] for a hearing on his appeal," Mrs. Kavalenka said.

"I continue insisting that Syarhey be put into a civilian hospital under the care of civilian doctors. At Navinki he is undergoing an examination that should last between a week and a month. And what will happen next? Will he be sent back to prison?" she wondered.

Syarhey Kavalenka, a member of the Conservative Christian Party, was sentenced to a suspended three-year prison sentence in 2010 for putting a white-red-white flag on top of Vitsyebsk's tallest Christmas tree in early January.

On December 19, 2011, Mr. Kavalenka was arrested at home on a charge of violating probation rules and placed in a detention center. He went on hunger strike immediately after his arrest and is said to have lost nearly 40 kilograms of weight.

On February 24, he was sentenced to two years and one month in prison.

Four days later, Mr. Kavalenka was transferred from Vitsba 3 near Vitsyebsk to the national prison hospital in Minsk.

In late March, he was moved to the medical unit of the Vitsba 3 prison.

On April 1, doctors began force-feeding Mr. Kavalenka with a Belarusian-made milk formula. He was said to be given the formula through a tube up to six times a day and get glucose, amino acids and vitamins intravenously.

On April 10, a panel of the Vitsyebsk Regional Court ordered Mr. Kavalenka placed in a psychiatric hospital for a comprehensive examination, while simultaneously postponing a hearing on the opposition activist's appeal against his prison sentence until the examination findings are known.

It was reported last week that Mr. Kavalenka had voluntarily ended his hunger strike.