The Belarusian political prisoner Ales Pushkin has died aged 57 in prison, his wife announced today. This news comes in addition to the successive complaints in recent months about the mistreatment of prisoners in the country’s prisons.

“Ales died today, in intensive care, under circumstances that have not been fully clarified,” Pushkin’s wife Yanina told AFP.

After the 2020 protests, on the occasion of his controversial re-election Alexander Lukashenko in the presidency, the repression against dissidents intensified, many were imprisoned, others were forced to go abroad.

Pushkin, who was a well-known artist, was sentenced in March 2022 to five years in prison for desecrating state symbols and inciting hatred, according to the independent human rights group Viasna. These charges are often used by the authorities to silence dissidents.

“Ales Pushkin was the embodiment of the indomitable spirit of the Belarusian people,” tweeted opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, who now lives abroad. He posted a photo of the artist holding a red and white flag, one of the symbols of the opposition, in front of a “wall” of police officers. “Ales used his art to fight for freedom and build a new Belarus, without tyranny. Please, if you know anything about Ales’ death, pass the information on to his wife, the independent media or human rights activists,” he added.

Lukashenko’s regime has become increasingly isolated after violently suppressing protests and allowing Russia to use the country’s territory to launch its attack on Ukraine. The Viasna estimates that there are at least 1,500 political prisoners in the country, including Maria Kolesnikova, an important figure in the opposition. Last week her sister said Maria Kolesnikova has not contacted her family since February. In the winter he had been hospitalized for a few days in the intensive care unit.