Sergei Tikhanovsky, an opposition blogger, husband of one of the Belarusian opposition leaders, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, will soon be transferred from prison to prison. This decision of the Mogilev Oktyabrsky district court was reported on Telegram by the Belarusian human rights center “Vesna” on Friday, August 12.

Human rights activists note that they know the names of 43 political prisoners, whom the colony’s administration “for fictitious misconduct” punishes for “violating the established order.” “Of these, 28 political prisoners were strengthened and transferred to a prison regime,” the report says.

The prison regime means the constant presence of an inmate within four walls. “People can stay in cells 24/7 with the same people, from three to twelve people, for years,” explained Viasna representatives.

Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on her husband’s transfer to prison

In turn, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya wrote on her Telegram channel that she did not know the reasons for her husband’s transfer from the colony to prison, nor where he would be sent.

Opposition blogger Sergei Tikhanovsky, who wanted to run for the presidency of Belarus in 2020, was sentenced on December 14, 2021 to 18 years in a penal colony. This is the longest term Lukashenka’s political opponent received in the last elections: Viktor Babariko received 14 years in prison, Maria Kolesnikova – 11 years. The five remaining defendants in the “Tsihanouski case” received 14 to 16 years in prison.

In June 2022, the Belarusian KGB inscribed Sergei Tikhanovsky and 22 others on the List of organizations and individuals involved in terrorist activities.