A 22-year-old Russian man who had been sentenced to 12 years in prison on espionage and "facilitating extremist activities" charges has died in a Belarusian penal colony, the human rights center Vyasna said on November 1. Preliminary information indicates that Dmitriy Schletgauer died on October 11, less than a month after his transfer to Mogilev Colony No. 15. The cause of death was not disclosed. Schletgauer was tried earlier this year under two articles of the Criminal Code after being arrested in the crackdown on dissent that followed the disputed 2020 presidential election that handed authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka a sixth term. Schletgauer’s death is the seventh of a political prisoner behind bars in Belarus since the crackdown. Schletgauer was born in Slavgorod, Russia, and acquired Belarusian residency in 2018.
Another Political Prisoner Dies In Belarus Jail, Rights Group Says
People wait outside a jail in Belarus after a crackdown on protesters. (file photo)