Political Prisoner Zhamchuzhny Served 100 Days In Punitive Isolation Cell

He practically does not leave the punitive isolation cell of the correctional colony No. 9 in Horki.

As it became known to the Viasna human rights activists, the political prisoner Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was punished with yet more days in the isolation cell: he got 10 days added to his punishment on both August 30 and September 10. Thus, for the last three months Zhamchuzhny spent 50 days in a penalty cell. And if counted for the whole time he has been serving, he spent almost 100 days in the isolation cell.

The political prisoner decided to take such extreme measures so that after his serving of 100 days in the isolation cell the prison administration placed him in a cell type room. Only there it will be able to avoid biased treatment and various provocations organized against him by the administration and the special contingent.

Meanwhile, prison doctors got concerned about Zhamchuzhny's long stay in the unfavorable conditions of the isolation cell. Although Zhamchuzhny did not complain about his health, doctors very carefully examined the state of his health at the last medical examination: measured blood pressure, temperature, weight, made a cardiogram.

Since Zhamchuzhny was kept in the isolation cell, his friends and acquaintances do not receive letters from him, since no correspondence is sent to the isolation cell. Perhaps letters and postcards will be handed out to him when he leaves the isolation cell.

Mikhail Zhamchuzhny continues to appeal against the previous penalties that the Department of Penalty Execution in the Mahiliou region imposed on him. If his appeals are not satisfied, he plans to go to court.

We remind that Mikhail Zhamchuzhny’s problems started after he was transferred to the Horki colony where with the administration’s acquiescence or tolerance, unbearable conditions for serving the sentence were created, because informal relations had been established among the prisoners.

July 2015, Platform Innovation founder Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was sentenced by the Vitsebsk Regional Court to 6 years in prison in a strict regime colony. On October 23, the Supreme Court's judicial panel on criminal cases considered his cassation appeal and assigned him a more severe punishment – six and a half years of imprisonment.

He was found guilty of committing crimes under Art. 376 (Parts 1 and 2), Part 5 of Art. 16, Art. 375 (Part 1) and Art. 431 (Parts 1 and 2): incitement to the deliberate disclosure of information constituting official secret; repeated illegal acquisition and sale of special technical means intended for obtaining information secretly; giving bribes repeatedly.

Belarusian human rights activists recognized Mikhail Zhamchuzhny as a political prisoner.