Belarus Crackdown

MINSK -- Opposition politicians and activists in Belarus have handed a petition to President Alyaksandr Lukashenka demanding the immediate release of Ales Byalyatski, the jailed chairman of the Minsk-based Vyasna human rights center.

Vyasna has actively reported on Lukashenka's ongoing crackdown on dissent.

Byalyatski was arrested in August 2011 and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison on tax-evasion charges that the European Union and United States have condemned as politically motivated.

The charges against Byalyatski stemmed from his alleged use of personal accounts in Lithuania and Poland to receive funding from international donors for rights activities in Belarus.

Byalyatski has pleaded not guilty.

With reporting by Interfax

VITSEBSK, Belarus -- Jailed Belarusian opposition activist Syarhey Kavalenka, whose health has deteriorated due to a lengthy hunger strike, reportedly is being forcibly fed in a prison psychiatric clinic in the eastern city of Vitsebsk.

Prison officials told Kavalenka's relatives on April 2 that Kavalenka’s state of health is “close to grave” and a decision was made to feed him forcibly with a milk formula using a feeding tube.

Kavalenka, 37, was sentenced in February to 25 months in jail for a parole violation.

He was detained in December for allegedly violating the terms of his parole for a conviction on charges of "illegally displaying the banned Belarusian national flag."

He began his hunger strike shortly after his detention.

Officials force-fed him in January, but he resumed his hunger strike in February.