Dzianis Ivashyn returned from prison to Mogilev penal colony No. 15

Dzianis Ivashyn

Relatives have already received the first letters from the colony. A letter to his mother from June 18 indicates that at that time Dzianis was in quarantine, reported the journalist's wife Volha Ivashyna on Facebook. A few days later, a postcard from her husband reached her as well.

Volha notes that she is concerned about the phrase that he is not yet exercising and "keeping himself in an economical regime."

According to her, the transfer back to the Mogilev penal colony, where Dzianis was initially sent to serve his sentence, can hardly be considered a relief compared to the prison where the journalist spent the last three years.

"Mogilev's 'fifteen' is actually worse for Dzianis than the prison in Zhodzina. By order of the PC-15 leadership, he was beaten there, and then isolated from other prisoners in the punitive isolation cell (SHIZA) so that no one would see his bruises. Closer to his transfer to prison, he was thrown into the SHIZA (punitive isolation cell. — Ed.) and PKT (cell-type room. — Ed.) almost continuously. He was mocked for speaking and writing letters in Belarusian, letters were destroyed, phone calls, food parcels, and meetings with parents were prohibited. And all this happened within a few months in the colony — he didn't even manage to stay there for half a year, it seems," Volha Ivashyna recounted.

According to Volha, the journalist's mother recently received an official letter from the colony administration stating that inmate Dzianis Ivashyn arrived there on June 18, 2026, and that after February 13, 2030, he will be eligible for early release on parole. But for this, he must "prove his own correction" through his behavior.

In addition, the letter signed by the head of the special department of the colony with the surname Mastsepanenka states that after January 9, 2029, Dzianis Ivashyn may qualify for a replacement of his punishment with a milder one. For this, it is also necessary to prove to the colony administration that he has "firmly embarked on the path of correction." A written promise of "law-abiding behavior," absence of penalties, honest attitude to work, and maximum compensation for "damage caused by the crime" are also mandatory.

In connection with the latter, relatives are offered to help compensate for this damage and "exert a positive influence" on the inmate. According to the journalist's wife, the material damage determined by the court has long been repaid.

"We hoped that Dzianis could be exchanged for some prisoners of war or spies, so we decided to pay everything to ensure it was in order. And so that the colony administration would not have additional leverage on Dzianis. As for the notification from the colony, it's a standard letter, they send such to everyone. For example, it specifies norms for prisoners regarding the number of parcels, transfers, visits, and so on. But, for example, during Dzianis's first stay in PC-15, his allowance for goods was immediately cut to one basic unit, although the enhanced regime allows two basic units. In reality, everything is decided by the administration," says Volha Ivashyna.

Dzianis Ivashyn is a correspondent for the Belarusian independent newspaper "Novy Chas" and a volunteer editor of the Belarusian version of the website of the international investigative community InformNapalm. The journalist is known for his investigations into the influence of the "Russian world" on Belarus and Syria, and the scandalous development in the Kurapaty memorial tract near Minsk.

Dzianis Ivashyn was detained on March 12, 2021, in Hrodna and sentenced to 13 years and 1 month of imprisonment for alleged "treason against the state" (Art. 356 of the Criminal Code) and "illegal collection and dissemination of information about private life" (Art. 179 of the Criminal Code). In total, Dzianis Ivashyn has been imprisoned for more than 5 years.

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