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The trial of a political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich on changing the regime of serving his sentence to prison confinement took place on 4 May in Shklou penal colony №17. The basis for the regime change are claimed to be numerous violations of internal regulations of the colony and disobeying the requirements of the colony administration. In a letter to his wife Maryna Adamovich, Statkevich wrote that he had been placed in cell-type premises.

On 4 May Belarus presented the report to the Human Rights Council in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR). This is the second cycle of the UPR for Belarus, so the country reported on the implementation of recommendations that were received after the first round of the UPR in 2010.

Lars Bünger, president of the international human rights organization Libereco – Partnership for Human Rights was denied a Belarusian visa. This is the fourth denial for the human rights defender, whose organisation has been campaigning for the release of political prisoners in Belarus over the last four years. Earlier, he was denied a visa in 2010, 2011 and 2013.

60 independent human rights organisations in the Human Rights House Network call upon Belarusian authorities to stop the prosecution of the human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka, and to investigate the threats made against him and his family.

60 independent human rights organisations in the Human Rights House Network call upon Belarusian authorities to stop the prosecution of the human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka, and to investigate the threats made against him and his family.

On 16 April the documentary film “The Gang”, telling about the disappeared Belarusian politicians and journalists, was screened in Vilnius. The screening was followed by the discussion with the film’s producer and well-known Belarusian human rights defender Ms. Raisa Mikhailovskaya. The presentation was organized by the Barys Zvozskau Belarusian Human Rights House, Freedom House and the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Lithuania.

The pressure on Mikalai Statkevich, the former presidential candidate and political prisoner, has increased significantly in prison, causing concern among human rights defenders and do not surprise the country’s leader.

The team of the Digital Security School DSS375 has updated and added information, directly relevant to Belarus, to the Security in-a-box Guide. Security in-a-box Guide, originally developed by the Tactical Technology Collective and Front Line Defenders, allows one to learn more about the risks and dangers that beset modern man in a complex digital world.

Article 411 of the Criminal Code provides punishment for disobedience to the administration of the penal facilities for prisoners held in the such facilities. Now this article and, consequently, the extension of imprisonment term, have been used against political prisoners. In 2012, Zmitser Dashkevich was convicted under Article 411 of the Criminal Code for one more year of imprisonment a few months before the end of his term, in February 2015 – a few days before his release – so was Mikalai Dziadok.