Belarus political prisoner dies after authorities fail to provide him with medical care, group says

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — A human rights group says that a political prisoner has died in prison in Belarus after authorities failed to provide him with proper medical care. The death has spotlighted cruel conditions in the country’s prisons. The respected Viasna human rights center said Monday that Vadzim Khrasko died of pneumonia in a penal colony near the northeastern city of Vitebsk after prison authorities had been slow to take him to a hospital and ignored his pleas for help. Khrasko died on Jan. 9. But officials only reported his death now. Belarusian authorities have cracked down on opponents of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko after huge protests triggered by the August 2020 election. The balloting was viewed by the opposition and the West as fraudulent.