ViasnaAles Pushkin
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 21:50
Belarusian artist and activist Ales Pushkin has died in prison, his wife reports. The cause of death is unknown.
Pushkin, 57, was serving a five-year sentence in a prison in Grodno, western Belarus. He “died in the intensive care unit of the prison, under unclear circumstances,” his wife told the AP news agency. Belarusian authorities have not commented.
Pushkin often portrayed President Lukashenko. For example, he once painted him in hell, surrounded by riot police, on a fresco in a church in the town of Bobr.
Stripped down in protest
He was best known for his campaign “Manure for the President” in 1999. Then he emptied a manure cart in front of Lukashenko’s office in the capital Minsk, placed a portrait of Lukashenko on it and stuck a pitchfork in it. He got two years in prison for it.
Pushkin also joined opposition protests against Lukashenko. In March 2021, he was therefore arrested and sentenced to five years in prison for hate speech and “desecration of state symbols”.
Human rights center Viasna says he undressed while hearing that statement and showed cuts on his stomach in the shape of a cross. He was sentenced to 13 days in solitary confinement.
Inhuman treatment
Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya says Belarus has lost one of its “most talented and fearless sons”. Ales Pushkin, in her opinion, was “the embodiment of the indomitable spirit of the Belarusian people.”
“He died as a political prisoner of the regime and the responsibility lies with his guard, Lukashenko and his comrades.” Tikhanovskaya hopes for a “firm international response to his death and the continued inhumane treatment of political prisoners”.
According to human rights center Viasna, Belarus has nearly 1,500 political prisoners, including Ales Bialiatski. This human rights activist founded Viasna and won the Nobel Peace Prize last year.
Recently, three ministers from Lukashenko’s cabinet died suddenly in quick succession.
2023-07-11 19:50:05
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