22-year-old political prisoner died behind bars in Belarus
Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko (photo: Getty Images)
In Belarus, Dmitriy Schletgauer, a native of Russia, has died while serving a 12-year sentence for espionage and facilitating extremist activities. He became the seventh political dissident to die in prison since the regime of Alexander Lukashenko launched severe and extensive crackdowns on the opposition in 2020, reports the Belarusian Human Rights Center Viasna.
According to Viasna, whose Nobel Peace Prize-winning founder Ales Bialiatski is himself imprisoned, Belarusian authorities have refused to disclose the cause of Schletgauer's death, which occurred on October 11 but was only recently reported.
Human Rights Center claims that there are currently about 1,300 political prisoners in the country, many of whom are denied proper medical care and communication with their families.
Viasna reports that Schletgauer became a father while in custody. A Russian citizen who received residency in Belarus in 2018, he worked at a polymer plant before his arrest.
Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, whose husband Siarhei Tsikhanouski is serving a 19 1/2-year sentence in Belarus, has called for an independent investigation into Schletgauer's death and stated that international experts must be allowed to visit the country’s prisons.
Belarus has scheduled a new presidential election for January 26, 2025. Russia has already offered to assist the security forces.
