Belarusian artist and political prisoner Ales Pushkin has died in intensive care under unknown circumstances, his wife said on July 11. The 57-year-old had been sentenced to five years in prison for “mocking state symbols” and inciting “social enmity or strife.” In his most famous work, Dung For The President, he overturned a wheelbarrow of manure in front of the presidential building in Minsk in 1999. Opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya reacted to Pushkin’s death, saying “people should not die in prisons" and praising Pushkin’s work as “the embodiment of the indomitable spirit of the Belarusian people.” To read the original story from RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, click here.
Ales Pushkin, Belarusian Artist And Political Prisoner, Dies In Prison
Ales Pushkin in his workshop in Minsk in June 2020