Mikalai Autuhovich stabbed himself in protest?
Human rights defenders are reporting it.
Vaukavysk entrepreneur and political prisoner Mikalai Autuhovich is serving his sentence in Hrodna prison #1. He has wounded himself in the belly, human rights website Platforma reports. He did it because “the prison administration was openly humiliating him”.
Mikalai Autuhovich is getting punished again as soon as the previous punishment is over. He was punished again when there was only a month left for his previous punishment to expire. It prevented him from getting parcels and meeting his relatives, Platforma reports.
The reason for the punishment was the fact that Autuhovich was not in his bed during the lights-out on August 26 but the information has not been confirmed yet.
According to an anonymous source, Autuhovich’s emotional reaction is caused by the fact that he is trying to avoid violations: “Being a military man, he does not find it hard to wake up and go to bed on time. He is used to the schedule. He is used to not talking to anyone for 6 months – he can only say a couple of words a day – to avoid provocations,” human rights defenders report.
If Autuhovich becomes a persistent violator, his term of imprisonment may be prolonged. He may also be put under preventive supervision at large. Article 411 of the Criminal Code allows it.
Hrodna prison administration has neither refuted nor confirmed the information about Mikalai Autuhovich’s wound.
“How do you know about it? Did you read it on the Internet or did human rights defenders tell you about it? You should know what the Internet is. You can trust it if you like. I will not comment on the Internet. The prisoner is here and he is serving his sentence like everyone else,” deputy chief of Hrodna prison #1 Aleh Radzikevich told Euroradio.
Mikalai Autohiovich is an Afghan veteran, entrepreneur and civil activist from Vaukavysk. He was imprisoned for 5 years and 2 months in May 2010 for illegal actions with weapons and blasting assemblies. Human rights activists consider the sentence to be politically motivated.
