In Belarus, yellow tags single out political prisoners
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 19, 2021 file photo, Belarusian journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich, who was sentenced to six months over her investigation into a protester’s death, shows her yellow prison’s label to colleagues upon her release from the prison in Komarovka, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo)
In this handout photo released by spring96.org web portal, Uladzislau Makavetsky gestures as he listens for a verdict in a courtroom in Vitebsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. The 28-year-old woodcarver Uladzislau Makavetsky was convicted in December of threatening a police officer with a truncheon during a clash between protesters and police in his hometown of Vitebsk and sentenced to two years in prison. He insisted that he was trying to protect an elderly man who was beaten by police and just threw away a truncheon dropped by one of the officers. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Liubou Kaspiarovich, a journalist of Tut.by independent news portal who spent 15 days in jail last month for covering a trial related to protests, poses for a photo in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Kaspiarovich said she and 14 other inmates in her cell had to sleep on the concrete floor wet with chlorine. “They were waking us up several times during the night, ordering us to report the criminal law articles we were charged with, and each morning they poured a bucketful of chlorine on the floor,” Kaspiarovich told the AP. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, demonstrators carry an opposition flag at a protest at Independence square in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file image made from video provided by the State TV and Radio Company of Belarus, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko greets riot police officers near the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus, amid street protests. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP, File)
FILE - In this March 25, 2012, file photo, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich attends an opposition rally against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Saturday, April 17, 2021 file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this handout file photo released by ONT channel on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich smokes a cigarette while speaking in a video from a detention center in Minsk, Belarus. The footage of Raman Pratasevich was part of an hour-long TV program aired late Wednesday by the state-controlled ONT channel. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (ONT channel VIA AP, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2020, file photo, a woman covers herself with an opposition flag in front of a police line near the residence of President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2020, file photo, police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, Belarusian opposition supporters rally at Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo, File)
Stsiapan Latypau smiles while presenting flowers to women during a protest in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Latypau tried to slice his throat with a pen in court on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 after being put in a cell with mentally deranged inmates and threatened with criminal reprisals against his family. The 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma after the incident. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this file handout frame released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, police officers carry Stsiapan Latypau, a Belarusian activist who was attempted to kill himself during a court hearing to protest political repression to an ambulance in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Latypau tried to slice his throat with a pen in court after being put in a cell with mentally deranged inmates and threatened with criminal reprisals against his family. The 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma after the incident. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via AP, File)
Belarusian political activist Vitold Ashurok smiles in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. One of those who first reported cruel conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, the 50-year-old Vitold Ashurok, suddenly died in prison in Shklov where he was serving a five-year sentence for taking part in protests. The authorities said Ashurok died of a heart attack on May 21, although the official death certificate didn’t list the cause of death. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Relatives and friends of Vitold Ashurok stand at the coffin with his body draped with white and red cloth in the color of Old Berurian national flag in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. One of those who first reported cruel conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, the 50-year-old Vitold Ashurok, suddenly died in prison in Shklov where he was serving a five-year sentence for taking part in protests. The authorities said Ashurok died of a heart attack on May 21, although the official death certificate didn’t list the cause of death. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this May 28, 2021, file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko addresses prime ministers from countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union at a meeting, in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (Sergei Sheleg/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2020, photo, Belarusian riot police officer stands next to detained after an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results demonstrators inside a police station in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 19, 2021 file photo, Belarusian journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich, who was sentenced to six months over her investigation into a protester’s death, shows her yellow prison’s label to colleagues upon her release from the prison in Komarovka, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Wednesday, May 19, 2021 file photo, Belarusian journalist Katsiaryna Barysevich, who was sentenced to six months over her investigation into a protester’s death, shows her yellow prison’s label to colleagues upon her release from the prison in Komarovka, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo)
In this handout photo released by spring96.org web portal, Uladzislau Makavetsky gestures as he listens for a verdict in a courtroom in Vitebsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. The 28-year-old woodcarver Uladzislau Makavetsky was convicted in December of threatening a police officer with a truncheon during a clash between protesters and police in his hometown of Vitebsk and sentenced to two years in prison. He insisted that he was trying to protect an elderly man who was beaten by police and just threw away a truncheon dropped by one of the officers. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
In this handout photo released by spring96.org web portal, Uladzislau Makavetsky gestures as he listens for a verdict in a courtroom in Vitebsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020. The 28-year-old woodcarver Uladzislau Makavetsky was convicted in December of threatening a police officer with a truncheon during a clash between protesters and police in his hometown of Vitebsk and sentenced to two years in prison. He insisted that he was trying to protect an elderly man who was beaten by police and just threw away a truncheon dropped by one of the officers. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Liubou Kaspiarovich, a journalist of Tut.by independent news portal who spent 15 days in jail last month for covering a trial related to protests, poses for a photo in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Kaspiarovich said she and 14 other inmates in her cell had to sleep on the concrete floor wet with chlorine. “They were waking us up several times during the night, ordering us to report the criminal law articles we were charged with, and each morning they poured a bucketful of chlorine on the floor,” Kaspiarovich told the AP. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Liubou Kaspiarovich, a journalist of Tut.by independent news portal who spent 15 days in jail last month for covering a trial related to protests, poses for a photo in Minsk, Belarus, Thursday, June 3, 2021. Kaspiarovich said she and 14 other inmates in her cell had to sleep on the concrete floor wet with chlorine. “They were waking us up several times during the night, ordering us to report the criminal law articles we were charged with, and each morning they poured a bucketful of chlorine on the floor,” Kaspiarovich told the AP. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, demonstrators carry an opposition flag at a protest at Independence square in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, demonstrators carry an opposition flag at a protest at Independence square in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file image made from video provided by the State TV and Radio Company of Belarus, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko greets riot police officers near the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus, amid street protests. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file image made from video provided by the State TV and Radio Company of Belarus, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko greets riot police officers near the Palace of Independence in Minsk, Belarus, amid street protests. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (State TV and Radio Company of Belarus via AP, File)
FILE - In this March 25, 2012, file photo, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich attends an opposition rally against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this March 25, 2012, file photo, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich attends an opposition rally against Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Saturday, April 17, 2021 file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this Saturday, April 17, 2021 file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko plants young trees during a subbotnik, a Soviet-style Clean-up Day, in the village of Alexandria, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (Maxim Guchek/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this handout file photo released by ONT channel on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich smokes a cigarette while speaking in a video from a detention center in Minsk, Belarus. The footage of Raman Pratasevich was part of an hour-long TV program aired late Wednesday by the state-controlled ONT channel. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (ONT channel VIA AP, File)
FILE - In this handout file photo released by ONT channel on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich smokes a cigarette while speaking in a video from a detention center in Minsk, Belarus. The footage of Raman Pratasevich was part of an hour-long TV program aired late Wednesday by the state-controlled ONT channel. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (ONT channel VIA AP, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2020, file photo, a woman covers herself with an opposition flag in front of a police line near the residence of President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Sept. 6, 2020, file photo, a woman covers herself with an opposition flag in front of a police line near the residence of President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2020, file photo, police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 10, 2020, file photo, police officers kick a demonstrator during a mass protest following presidential election in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, Belarusian opposition supporters rally at Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo, File)
FILE - In this Aug. 23, 2020, file photo, Belarusian opposition supporters rally at Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo, File)
Stsiapan Latypau smiles while presenting flowers to women during a protest in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Latypau tried to slice his throat with a pen in court on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 after being put in a cell with mentally deranged inmates and threatened with criminal reprisals against his family. The 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma after the incident. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Stsiapan Latypau smiles while presenting flowers to women during a protest in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2020. Latypau tried to slice his throat with a pen in court on Tuesday, June 1, 2021 after being put in a cell with mentally deranged inmates and threatened with criminal reprisals against his family. The 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma after the incident. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this file handout frame released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, police officers carry Stsiapan Latypau, a Belarusian activist who was attempted to kill himself during a court hearing to protest political repression to an ambulance in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Latypau tried to slice his throat with a pen in court after being put in a cell with mentally deranged inmates and threatened with criminal reprisals against his family. The 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma after the incident. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via AP, File)
FILE - In this file handout frame released by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, police officers carry Stsiapan Latypau, a Belarusian activist who was attempted to kill himself during a court hearing to protest political repression to an ambulance in Minsk, Belarus, Tuesday, June 1, 2021. Latypau tried to slice his throat with a pen in court after being put in a cell with mentally deranged inmates and threatened with criminal reprisals against his family. The 41-year-old Stsiapan Latypau was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma after the incident. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty via AP, File)
Belarusian political activist Vitold Ashurok smiles in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. One of those who first reported cruel conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, the 50-year-old Vitold Ashurok, suddenly died in prison in Shklov where he was serving a five-year sentence for taking part in protests. The authorities said Ashurok died of a heart attack on May 21, although the official death certificate didn’t list the cause of death. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Belarusian political activist Vitold Ashurok smiles in Minsk, Belarus, Friday, Nov. 22, 2019. One of those who first reported cruel conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, the 50-year-old Vitold Ashurok, suddenly died in prison in Shklov where he was serving a five-year sentence for taking part in protests. The authorities said Ashurok died of a heart attack on May 21, although the official death certificate didn’t list the cause of death. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Relatives and friends of Vitold Ashurok stand at the coffin with his body draped with white and red cloth in the color of Old Berurian national flag in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. One of those who first reported cruel conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, the 50-year-old Vitold Ashurok, suddenly died in prison in Shklov where he was serving a five-year sentence for taking part in protests. The authorities said Ashurok died of a heart attack on May 21, although the official death certificate didn’t list the cause of death. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
Relatives and friends of Vitold Ashurok stand at the coffin with his body draped with white and red cloth in the color of Old Berurian national flag in Minsk, Belarus, Wednesday, May 26, 2021. One of those who first reported cruel conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, the 50-year-old Vitold Ashurok, suddenly died in prison in Shklov where he was serving a five-year sentence for taking part in protests. The authorities said Ashurok died of a heart attack on May 21, although the official death certificate didn’t list the cause of death. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. (AP Photo)
FILE - In this May 28, 2021, file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko addresses prime ministers from countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union at a meeting, in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (Sergei Sheleg/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this May 28, 2021, file photo, Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko addresses prime ministers from countries that were once part of the former Soviet Union at a meeting, in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (Sergei Sheleg/BelTA Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2020, photo, Belarusian riot police officer stands next to detained after an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results demonstrators inside a police station in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
FILE - In this Nov. 8, 2020, photo, Belarusian riot police officer stands next to detained after an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results demonstrators inside a police station in Minsk, Belarus. Political prisoners in Belarus are coming under increasing pressure following the recent arrest of activist Raman Pratasevich from a forcibly diverted Ryanair flight. Human rights groups say these prisoners have been marked with yellow tags sewn into their prison uniforms to single them out from regular prisoners. (AP Photo/File)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — While visiting her son in a Belarusian prison, Natallia Makavetskaya saw deep scars on his wrists left by tight handcuffs. She also noticed the yellow tag sewn onto his clothes.
The tags mark those jailed for joining demonstrations against authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko and single them out for “particularly harsh prison conditions,” Makavetskaya told The Associated Press.
“They have decided that my son is prone to extremism and treated him accordingly,” she said in a telephone interview.
Her son, Uladzislau Makavetsky, was convicted in December of threatening a police officer with a truncheon during a clash between protesters and police in his hometown of Vitebsk, and was sentenced to two years in prison. He denied the charges, saying he was only trying to protect an elderly man who had been beaten by police, and he just tossed away a truncheon dropped by one of the officers.
Makavetsky told his mother that authorities at prison colony No. 22, located near Brest on the border with Poland, denied him any personal items or visitors for a time. During daily lineups, he was ordered to stand apart from other prisoners and say: “I’m prone to extremism.” Prisoners with yellow tags also get extensive regular searches.
The 28-year-old woodcarver was one of more than 35,000 people arrested in Belarus in a harsh crackdown on protests that followed Lukashenko’s reelection to a sixth term in an August 2020 vote that was widely seen as rigged. Thousands were severely beaten by police.
The wide-ranging repression was spotlighted again on May 23, when a Ryanair flight traveling from Greece to Lithuania was diverted to Minsk where authorities arrested Raman Pratasevich, a dissident journalist who was aboard. He has been shown in several videos on state TV since his arrest, most recently Thursday night, tearfully repenting for his activities and praising Lukashenko in remarks that the opposition said were clearly made under duress.
Outraged European Union authorities denounced the flight’s diversion as air piracy and imposed more sanctions on the country.
Belarus human rights activists say authorities have toughened prison conditions in recent months for those who took part in protests. Many of them have been marked with the yellow tags, a practice denounced by human rights activists.
“The tags’ yellow color draws direct associations with yellow Stars of David for Jews in Nazi Germany, and it’s hard to understand why the Belarusian authorities did it,” said Valiantsin Stefanovich of the Viasna human rights center. “In any case, these dangerous experiments lead to stigmatization of political prisoners by prison authorities and other inmates.”
Viasna says that at least 460 political prisoners are being held in Belarusian penitentiaries on criminal charges related to protests that carry terms from six months to several years.
The Belarusian authorities have ignored criticism of harsh conditions for jailed protesters. Lukashenko has repeatedly cast protesters as pawns in what he described as efforts by Western spy agencies to destabilize Belarus and forcefully change the government.
Besides Makavetskaya, three other women told the AP that their sons had yellow tags sewn on their clothes when they visited them in April and May.
One of them, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Valiantsina, fearing reprisals from authorities, said her son told her he is kept in handcuffs around the clock. The IT specialist from Minsk is serving his four-year sentence in prison colony No. 1 in the city of Novopolotsk.
“My son whispered to me that he was being held for days in a stretched position in a punishment cell, his legs stretched far apart to cause intense pain without any trace left,” she told AP.
Another prisoner who was given a yellow tag was Katsiaryna Barysevich, a journalist of the Tut.by independent news portal who was released last month after serving six months on charges of revealing personal data in her report about a protester’s death.
“I wouldn’t say that I have been broken,” Barysevich told reporters after her release. “I have learned to look calmly at mad things.”
Liubou Kaspiarovich, another Tut.by journalist who spent 15 days in jail last month for covering a trial related to protests, said she and 14 others in her two-bed cell had to sleep on the concrete floor that was still wet with chlorine bleach.
“They were waking us up several times during the night, ordering us to report the criminal law articles we were charged with, and each morning they poured a bucketful of chlorine on the floor,” Kaspiarovich told the AP. “And they put a homeless woman who had lice in our cell.”
Vitold Ashurok, who was among the first to draw attention to harsh conditions and yellow tags for political prisoners, died inside a prison in Shklov, where he was serving a five-year sentence for participating in protests. The authorities said Ashurok, 50, died of a heart attack May 21, although his death certificate didn’t list a cause of death.
When relatives were given his body, which bore bruises and a bandage on his head, authorities also released a video in which a man purported to be Ashurok was seen grasping his head and collapsing before officers enter. The opposition said the video was doctored.
Viasna’s Stefanovich questioned the official version of Ashurok’s death.
“An absolutely healthy person suddenly dies in custody ... and they don’t name the cause of death, and (then) hand over his body with bandages,” he said. “What are people supposed to think?”
His death brought an outpouring of anger.
“He died in the struggle for freedom and a brighter future for Belarus,” U.S. Ambassador Julie Fisher said on Twitter, adding that Ashurok’s “wrongful imprisonment and senseless death demand accountability.”
Another prisoner tried to slit his throat with a pen in court Tuesday after authorities threatened his family with criminal charges. Stsiapan Latypau, 41, was hospitalized and put in a medically induced coma afterward.
German Foreign Ministry expressed shock and anger over the incident. Ministry spokeswoman Maria Adebahr said it “symbolizes the hopelessness that Lukashenko brings upon his citizens with his repression and also the brutal violence that is obviously being used there.”
Human rights activists and relatives of those being held have urged the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to visit Belarusian prisons to inspect conditions for political prisoners.
“They are cranking up repressions and there is no way to find out the truth about what’s going on behind the walls of the Belarusian prisons that have inherited the worst Soviet traditions,” said Viasna’s Stefanovich.
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Associated Press writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Frank Jordans in Berlin contributed.
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