Briton Who Is Serving Sentence Draws Belarusian Prison

Alan Smith regularly sends letters to his wife and describes the Belarusian prison reality in the drawings.

British citizen Alan Smith is serving a sentence for organizing an illegal migration channel across the Belarusian-Polish border. The man has already served more than half of the time, but cannot lay account with parole, since he categorically refuses to admit his guilt, Belsat reports.

The British (who has Kurdish roots) was the head of the travel agency, which helped the Iraqis to legalize on the territory of Belarus. He claims that he bought tickets for the Brest-Terespol train to a group of Iraqi citizens and was eventually charged with organizing an illegal migration channel. The Belarusian court sentenced the British to 2 years in prison. He was arrested on September 30, 2017. For, Smith spent 10 months in the detention center No. 2 in Vitsebsk, and is currently serving his sentence in the Vitsba-3 colony (Vitsebsk region).

The man regularly sends letters to his wife and describes the Belarusian prison reality in the drawings.

"There should be a maximum of 800 people in this prison. Now there are 1800. There are 35 people in each cell. We sleep in pairs on double beds. 200 prisoners have 10 toilets and 10 washbasins. There are doctors here, but two of them are veterinarians. We wash once a week – one shower for three men," – Alan Smith wrote in one of the letters to his wife.

"Today, the colony deputy head ordered to write a complaint against me, as I dressed in warm winter trousers – it's very cold here. It is written nowhere that they cannot be worn. And this happens to everyone."

"This place should not be called a "correctional institution" – nobody is taught here and no one works. No one tells you what to do to get to "the right track." People have no idea what to do after the prison. No work. No family. No help. The average sentence is 5-8 years. But there are two people with a 20-year term."

"This place is hell. There is no human right here. When I was in the hospital, two people died there and one tried to commit suicide. Many people ask me to help them. They wrote their stories for me. I will publish them. A lot of colony workers are racists. They send people to the punishment cell for no reason at all."

"I’ve been to the commission today – they denied parole. The deputy head of the colony did not even know how much time I would have to serve. He said that he did not know me. I asked how long it would take him to find out... The colony head does not control anything here. Someone controls my case in Minsk, but I do not know who."

"The head of the detention center, in which I was held, wrote to this colony that I violated their rules many times. In fact, I wrote a letter to the authorities about lawlessness and torture," – Smith writes to his wife.

Smith’ imprisonment will end in 4 months. He will be released on September 29. According to his wife, Alan is going to file a complaint with the Supreme Court.