Jailed businessman's hunger strike enters second month

16/05/2009 - 13:15

A hunger strike by Mikalay Autukhovich, an opponent of the government who has been held in custody for more than three months, entered its second month on Saturday.
Autukhovich, Yury Lyavonau and Uladzimir Asipenka were apprehended in armed raids in their hometown of Vawkavysk, Hrodna region, on the morning of February 8 and brought to a detention center in Minsk on the same day. They are said to be accused of perpetrating a series of arsons and explosions targeting the property of local officials and of illegal possession of explosives and firearms.

The three deny the charges, saying their persecution is politically motivated.

Autukhovich announced on April 16 that he had gone on an open-ended hunger strike to protest his months-long detention and demand that the case should be either referred to court or all people under investigation in the case should be released on their own recognizance.

Meanwhile, there appears to be little progress in the investigation of the case against the three dissidents. It was initially led by an investigator in Hrodna but a Minsk investigator has recently been put in charge, according to human rights defender Aleh Volchak.

Autukhovich and Lyavonau, former business partners, were sentenced to more than three years in prison in July 2006 for alleged tax evasion and illegal business activities. They were both granted early release in January last year.

Autukhovich, who was widely believed to be a prisoner of conscience, insisted that he had been sent to prison because he had protested authorities’ arbitrary rule.

BelaPAN