22 August, 2024Vasil Beresnev, the 74-year-old acting chairman of Belarusian Radio and Electronics Workers’ Union (REP) sentenced to nine years in 2023, has been released.
Vasil Beresnev was sentenced by Minsk City Court in January 2023 together with former chairperson of REP Hennadz Fiadynich, 67, to nine years of imprisonment. In the same trial, REP activist Vatslau Areshka, 69, was sentenced to eight years of imprisonment in a colony with a reinforced regime.
In prison, Vasil Beresnev’s health significantly deteriorated, he suffered from severe pain in his only kidney. The situation became critical when the medication was ineffective, and a kidney transplant was necessary.
Many of the political prisoners in Belarus suffer from ill health and are incarcerated in squalid conditions. A petition calling for the release of political prisoners has been actively disseminated.
Says IndustriALL general secretary Atle Høie:
“We welcome the release of Vasil Beresnev and hope that this marks a turning point for Belarus. Convicting trade union leaders for exercising their legitimate right to freedom of association constitutes a grave violation of the principles of freedom of association.”