In early July, it became known that Igor Olinevich spent almost a month in the punishment cell. This was reported by Telegram channel “Right to Revolt”.
Nikita Emelyanov continues to sit in solitary confinement. He received a few letters. In his letter Nikita said that during his imprisonment he had read the novel “La Misére” (“Poverty”) by French anarchist Louise Michel written in co-authorship with another participant of the Paris Commune, Victoria Tinaire.
Sergei Romanov continues to draw, now in penal colony N9 in Gorki, to which he was transferred in June after the court added another 11 months in prison to 20 years’ imprisonment, allegedly for malicious disobedience to the colony administration. He sent new drawings from Gorki, and this post is illustrated with his earlier drawing, also made in detention.
In the second half of July the detention of anarchist Aliaksandr Frantskevich* in the punishment cell was extended until 5 August. According to Viasna, Aliaksandr Frantskevich has been continuously detained in the punishment cell of the penal colony No. 5 since 28 March. He was placed there immediately after the quarantine.
“Nothing prevents them from adding a year under Article 411 of the Criminal Code right up to the end of my days. In our legal situation, the difference between 10 and 17 years is insignificant. My sentence is still insane, and the authorities know it too,” Frantskevich said after the verdict.
Alexander Frantskevich was detained on 13 August 2020 and sentenced to 17 years in prison in the case of the international criminal group. Later, the court reduced the sentence by three months after the notice of appeal.
25 July was the International Day of Solidarity with anti-fascist prisoners.
This day was set up in 2014 in solidarity with Jock Palfreyman, who served a 20-year sentence in Bulgaria for defending two Roma people from an attack by right-wing hooligans.
Since the last International Day of Solidarity with anti-fascist prisoners, the global struggle against fascism and the far right has intensified and escalated. News feeds continue to be awash with reports of racist and intolerant attacks, intimidation of journalists, demonization of refugees and migrants, and growing violence by organized fascist and far-right groups. These prejudiced, nationalist fantasies are not only reproduced globally, but also seek to turn us all hostage to borders.
This international day of solidarity is organized by the International Foundation for the Defence of Anti-Fascists, which has repeatedly supported our comrades in Belarus, and in case of repression against anti-fascists, you can turn to them for support.
You can check out the list of anti-fascist prisoners here: https://supportantifaprisoners.wordpress.com/antifascist-prisoners/.
On 30th of July Yanina Sazanovich, the creator of the project “Dzikae Paliavanne”, read out the names of anarchist antifascist political prisoners from Belarus from our website. in the live broadcast of the solidarity marathon “We are not all alone”.
Despite the overall success of the marathon, ABC Belarus reminds that support for political prisoners constantly requires significant sums of money. Don’t forget to support political prisoners in any way you can, for example by donating money to ABC Belarus.
* ABC-Belarus withdrew its support for Aliaksandr Frantskevich in 2015 for using violence against comrades, threatening our collective, and his position on the collective property of the movement. After Aliaksandr’s arrest in 2020, ABC declared critical support for him, read more in the statement.