Belarus: Jailed Activist Subjected To Ill-Treatment
Sergey Tihanovski is a popular blogger and prominent political activist. In Spring 2020, after he announced his intention to stand in the forthcoming presidential election, he was arbitrarily arrested and given “administrative detention” which prevented him from filing his candidacy before the deadline. His wife Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya filed her candidacy instead.
On 29 May 2020, at an election picket in support of Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya as a presidential candidate, Sergey Tihanovski was arbitrarily arrested once again, alongside seven fellow activists. An unfounded prosecution was launched against them. Meanwhile Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya emerged as a leading opposition candidate in the election. The incumbent Alyaksandr Lukashenka claimed victory, despite numerous well-documented and compelling reports of electoral fraud. Independent media reported testimonies by members of several local electoral who alleged that Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya received several times more votes than Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Mass protests against the disputed election outcome were crushed by police, with tens of thousands peaceful protesters arrested, and countless detainees suffering torture and other ill-treatment. Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya went into exile, for fear of prosecution. Many of her close associates, including her closest companion during the election campaign Maryia Kalesnikava were jailed. Hundreds of people have since been prosecuted and imprisoned following unfair trials, for their role in these protests and other peaceful dissent. Among them is Sergey Tihanovski who, on 14 December 2021, was given 18-year prison sentence under trumped up charges, one of the harshest sentences against peaceful dissenters. He has since been targeted with particularly harsh treatment in prison, including penalties for purported violations.
As part of the penalties imposed on him by the penitentiary administration, Sergey Tihanovski is not allowed family visits and telephone calls. He is not allowed to meet with his lawyer confidentially, read, send letters as well as receive letters and parcels. He is also not allowed to be receive warm clothes, while the cell is very cold, which put his health at further risk. As of 30 September, he had continuously spent 40 days in a punishment isolation cell (“Shizo”) in these conditions, and the term of his placement there had been repeatedly prolonged.
Amnesty International calls for Sergey Tihanovski ‘s immediate and unconditional release.