Volha Anishchuk

Spouse of political prisoner; prolonged administrative detention

Date of detention: 4 November 2022

Date of release: 8 December 2022

Volha Anishchuk, the wife of the political prisoner Artsiom Anishchuk, was detained on November 4, 2022. She was sentenced to 10 days of administrative imprisonment for a repost from the Nasha Niva independent media. Her case was heard by Alena Niakrasava, a duty judge of the Zavodskoy District Court of Minsk.

After the 10 days of administrative imprisonment, Anishchuk was not released. A “repentant video” was posted, in which she said that she had been subscribed to “extremist channels” and reposted their news. Pro-government Telegram channels described Anishchuk as "a candidate to celebrate the New Year in a temporary detention facility, since dozens of reposts have been recorded", and a person who "fueled up the situation around the penitentiary system with fakes and bombarded government agencies with far-fetched complaints".

On November 16, at the Zavodskoy District Court of Minsk, the judge Alena Kaptsevich sentenced Anishchuk to 14 days of administrative imprisonment for reposting news from the Telegram channel of the Zerkalo independent media. On November 28, she was sentenced to another 10 days of administrative imprisonment.

According to human rights defenders, Anishchuk has already had bronchitis twice behind bars, as she is kept in inhuman conditions and sleeps on the concrete floor. After the imprisonment at the Akrestsina detention center in Minsk, she was transferred to the Mogilev detention center, where she is bullied and pressured - she is forced to undress and squat naked thrice a day. On November 28, Volha Anishchuk went on a hunger strike in protest against the pressure.

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