Alena Hnauk, 66, was tried under three “protest articles”. When the pensioner was already serving her sentence in the Homieĺ penal colony, a new criminal case was brought against her under Article 411 – “persistent disobedience to lawful demands of the administration”. Alena received another year in prison.
Behind bars, the activist from Pružany experienced a worsening of her chronic illnesses and began to suffer from vascular problems.
“One day, as I came out of the canteen, I saw Alena Pietrouna sitting on the steps,” the former political prisoner told the media outlet “Novy Čas” on condition of anonymity. “Her face was red, indicating that her blood pressure was very high. And she felt so unwell that she could not stand up on her own.
The colony administration repeatedly placed Alena Hnauk in a correctional facility and a solitary confinement cell. In the living area, she was forced to move from the lower tier to the upper one. Domestic convicts, cooperating with the administration, threw forbidden items, including needles, to Alena. Based on these incidents, reports were filed against the political prisoner, resulting in her being given another 24 hours in SHIZO (punishment isolation cell).
