Thousands are sitting in Belarus. One of these thousands went on a hunger strike, the second of the same thousands stopped it. However, perhaps there are more starving people: prison administrations have long and perfectly mastered the art of hiding information, not issuing letters and not letting lawyers in. But it is absolutely known about two hunger strikes in Belarusian prisons.
Vladimir Matskevich is known in Belarus. Photo: BelNaviny
A few days ago, the philosopher Vladimir Matskevich, who has been in jail for six months on charges of organizing actions grossly violating public order, announced a hunger strike (Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, up to three years in prison). freedom). Matsevich is 65 years old — not the best age for prison. However, there is no suitable age for her at all.
Uladzimir Matskevich is well known in Belarus, primarily due to the fact that he hosted a program on the Belsat channel for several years, and, of course, thanks to his activity in social networks. Often he became the initiator of serious discussions. He has participated in protests, unlike the majority that woke up in 2020, since the mid-nineties. I remember very well how in 1997 we were sitting together in a jail after a rally in support of the arrested journalist Pavel Sheremet.
And this hunger strike is not the first in the life of Vladimir Matskevich. In 2006, the Belarusian authorities tried to close the New Life Protestant Church. Philosopher Matskevich then joined the parishioners of the church, who went on a hunger strike. By the way, then the “New Life” was defended by joint efforts. On February 17 last year, the security forces nevertheless expelled the parishioners from there.
Last week, Vladimir Matskevich managed to convey through his lawyer that he was starting a hunger strike on February 4. He plans to drink water for ten days, and if the requirements are not met, then on February 14 he will go on a dry hunger strike. February 4th is not a random date. It's exactly six months since his arrest. According to the Belarusian Code of Criminal Procedure, an investigation cannot last longer than six months. Only in exceptional cases, with the consent of the Prosecutor General, it can be extended up to one and a half years. But exceptional cases are, for example, cases in which there are dozens of defendants, hundreds of episodes, a lot of expert examinations. And in this case, when it comes to one philosopher and his texts on Facebook, even two months would be enough to concoct an accusation and take the case to court. So, Matskevich demands exactly this — the end of the investigation, the transfer of the case to court, the appointment of a date for the trial and, of course, a change in the preventive measure. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, the period of detention during the preliminary investigation cannot exceed six months. More than six months — only when charged with a particularly serious crime. “Organization of actions grossly violating public order,” which Matskevich is accused of, is among the less serious ones. So on February 4, either the case should have been already in court, or the philosopher was free.
Violated Code of Criminal Procedure — Matskevich declares a hunger strike. He does not demand free elections, Lukashenka's resignation and the release of political prisoners. He is a literalist and a pedant, and therefore only requires compliance with at least external procedural norms.
The second hunger strike is the one declared in the Mogilev prison by Swiss citizen Natalya Hershe.
Natalya Hershe. Photo: Tut.By
Natalya was arrested on September 19, 2020 during a women's march. She was tried for tearing off a balaclava from an riot policeman named Konchik and sentenced to two and a half years in prison. In the Homel colony, Natalya Khershe refused to sew a uniform for security forces and write a petition for pardon addressed to Lukashenka. In September last year, a trial was held to change the conditions for serving the sentence, and Natalya was transferred to the «krytka» — prison No. 4 of Mogilev for insubordination. And in the Mogilev prison in Natalya's cell from six in the morning until ten in the evening — from wake up to lights out — the Belarusian radio was turned on at full volume. Hershe perceived 16 hours of propaganda a day as torture. On January 30, she went on a hunger strike. And, apparently, she won. The other day, Natalya sent a telegram to her brother Gennady Kasyan: “The hunger strike has been lifted, the conflict has been settled, hello to everyone.” This means that the propaganda in the cell was turned off.