Mikalai Dziadok wrote an open letter, where he described the circumstances of his case, and a new sentence.

“On 26 February this year, I was convicted under Part 1 of Article 411 of the Criminal Code to 1 year imprisonment. The title of this article is “willful disobedience to the requirements of the administration of the correctional institution”. The sentence was handed down in prison just 5 days before the end of my previous term – 4 years and 6 months. I also note that I received the maximum penalty under this article – 1 year out of possible 1 year. In 2012, former political prisoner Zmitser Dashkevich was convicted under the same article. What was my “crime”? 16 disciplinary violations in almost 2 years in prison number 4, and in particular: wearing a tracksuit, talking to inmates in neighboring cells and walking around the cell after 10 p.m. It is also important that for each of the 16 violations I was reprimanded, either receiving a warning or 5 to 10 days in the punishment cell, thus serving 60 days in the punishment cell of this prison alone. “- said Mikalai Dziadok (left) in his letter.

Through his open letter Mikalai Dziadok appeals to the international and Belarusian human rights bodies, to all those interested in human rights, international organizations and to all who are not indifferent, to people of Belarus: do everything possible for the repeal of Article 411: “Of course, I would really like to shout to the whole world about the injustice and evil caused to me by the penal system, but I do want to be the last convict under Article 411 of the Criminal Code.”

The opinion of the lawyer: “The punishment under article 411 of the Criminal Code is an arbitrary deprivation of liberty”

Lawyer Pavel Sapelka (right), who for many years worked as an advocate, says that the essence of charges provided by Article 411 of the Criminal Code is one of the few provisions in Belarusian law where criminal liability directly depends on disciplinary prejudice, that is a disciplinary offense. Pavel Sapelka stresses the fact that the practice of punishment under Art. 411 Criminal for the same offenses for which prisoners have already been punished in a disciplinary manner violates the well-known principle of non bis in idem, which means that no one should be twice punished for one action. This principle is enshrined in the Criminal Code of Belarus.

The penal legislation of Belarus does not contain an exhaustive list of violations, which may entail disciplinary responsibility: for violation of the established order of serving punishment convicts can be subjected to all sorts of measures. The law does not specify the public danger of such violations. Penalties are imposed in the extra judicial procedure as a result of decisions taken in prisons and penal colonies by the officers of the Ministry of the Interior. This provokes the practice of arbitrary and often disproportionate prosecution as to the gravity of the offense; these defects cannot be eliminated even with the use of appealing the penalties.

The only form of punishment for committing a crime under the Criminal Code art.411, although classified as an offense of no great danger to society, is a deprivation of liberty, which is contrary to the principles of criminal law and criminal responsibility – justice and humanism. At the same time, even for the more serious crimes committed by persons sentenced to imprisonment – hooliganism, theft, robbery, causing less grievous bodily harm, — provide for the imposition of a milder penalty: a fine, forced labor, or restrictions on freedom.

According to Pavel Sapelka, the above facts in their totality “suggest the arbitrary nature of imprisonment for disobeying the lawful demands of prison administration”. He is confident that the perpetrators must be held responsible within the scope of disciplinary measures, especially as the range of these measures is provided by the penal legislation and is varied in nature: “Accordingly, Article 411 should be excluded from the Criminal Code.”

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