Mikalai Klimovicz, a Belarusian man who was sentenced to jail for sharing a satirical drawing of Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko on social media, has died in prison, according to a human rights group.
The 61-year-old political prisoner only lasted a little over two months in jail, the Viasna Human Rights Center said Monday. He was sentenced in February to one year in jail on charges of insulting the president of the Belarus. Viasna learned of his death on Sunday.
It was not clear what the cause of death was. Klimovicz had previously suffered stroke and had recently undergone heart surgery, according to Viasna.
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Klimovicz previously said he feared he would die in jail due to his medical conditions.
“Any prison sentence for me is death because I need to be under constant medical supervision and take many strong medications. I may not even survive a month,” he said in March.
Friends and family have previously expressed concern over his treatment and access to medical care during his detention, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists.
The opposition is blaming his death on Lukashenko’s government, Franak Viacorka, the chief political adviser to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, told The Daily Beast Monday.
“We believe that he is a victim of the regime and the regime knew about his condition. He was not provided medical assistance. He was not provided medicines and visits of doctor,” Viacorka told The Daily Beast. “He is the victim and the regime is guilty. The prosecutor and the judge, they all must be brought to account for this crime.”
As of Monday, 1,493 people are considered political prisoners in Belarus, according to Viasna. Lukashenko and Belarusian authorities treat political prisoners poorly with the intent of depriving them morally and physically, Viacorka said. It’s a practice the opposition says must be righted.
“We see this trend of the worsening of conditions for political prisoners. Right now they are all badged by a special yellow sign, they are not allowed to talk, they are kept in the worst cells,” Viacorka said. “Many are kept in the solitary cells or punishment cells, and regular, regular beatings. They can just wake you up in the morning in the cell, put you in the corridor, and beat you until bloody.”
“First it’s deterioration of health. And the goal of this imprisonment is always to destroy morally and physically the activist,” Viacorka added.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, denounced his death Monday.
“I deplore the death in prison of Belarusian blogger Mikalay Klimovich, my thoughts are with his family & friends,” she said on social media.
Andrej Stryzha, the head of the Belarusian human rights organization BYPOL, shared a photo of Klimovich Monday in a social media post calling for donations to help cover his funeral costs.
Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said his death is a reminder that Belarus needs to provide medical care to political prisoners.
“Heartbroken by the news that political prisoner Mikalai Klimovich died in the penal colony. The 61-year-old was sentenced to prison for a caricature of Lukashenka, despite having a serious heart problem. If we don't get urgent medical help to political prisoners, more will die,” Tsikhanouskaya said on Twitter.
