"I don't go to court, I'm carried in handcuffs." Ales Pushkin's letter to Valiantsin Stefanovich from behind bars

While being held in the former Minsk pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Valadarka, Viasna human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich received a prison "malyava" (letter) in spring 2022 from artist and political prisoner Ales Pushkin, who died in Hrodna prison No. 1 in 2023, writes Viasna.

Ales Pushkin and Valiantsin Stefanovich had known each other for many years. The human rights activist recalls that their relationship began in the late 90s:

"I was personally acquainted with Mr. Pushkin, and we knew each other very well. I even remember that in the late 90s I defended him in court after one of his performances. I was his representative in the administrative process – back then it was still possible to be a public representative in such processes. We've had such a long-standing relationship ever since then."

It is difficult to pass messages in prison, but prisoners still find such opportunities. The letter to Valiantsin was passed on by other inmates with whom Ales intersected in the so-called "holding cells" – cells where they await convoy:

"This letter was passed to me by the guys from my cell No. 53, who went to court. Pushkin also went to sessions during the same period. They crossed paths in the so-called "holding cells" – rooms where detainees await escort to court or distribution to cells after court hearings. There, one can spend some time with people from other cells. This is how Ales passed this letter through my cellmates."

In his letter, the artist describes the harsh realities of his imprisonment. He reports that he is in punitive isolation cell No. 2, where he was given 13 days.

The artist also expresses concern for other political prisoners in the letter. Noticing that women's cells were opposite his punitive isolation cell, he hoped to find out during his walk whether Marfa Rabkova, coordinator of Viasna's volunteer service, was being held there.

In addition, Ales reports on his situation in court: his lawyer Yuliya Yurhilevich was stripped of her license, and he himself refused the assigned defender, thus being left entirely without legal aid. Despite this, the artist actively prepared for the verdict — he wrote his final statement on 23 pages and planned to hand it over to journalists later.

The letter concludes with very warm words to Valiantsin: "I am very glad that I managed to contact you, I love you very much! Alina [Alina Stefanovich, Valiantsin's wife — NN] too, say hello to her! Stay strong!"

For Valiantsin Stefanovich, this "malyava" (prison letter) acquired special meaning after the terrible news that reached him some time later. On July 11, 2023, Ales Pushkin died due to untimely medical assistance for a perforated ulcer in the intensive care unit of the Hrodna hospital. The artist was brought there from Hrodna prison No. 1.

"Now this letter is perceived by me, in a sense, as a farewell letter from Ales Pushkin. Because when I was already in the penal colony, I learned from my mother – when I called her – that he had died."

Павялічыць

Ales Pushkin was detained on March 30, 2021, in a case concerning the alleged rehabilitation of Nazism: an exhibition in Hrodna featured a portrait of anti-Soviet partisan Auhen Zhykhar. At the time the case was initiated, the artist was in Kyiv, but he specifically returned to Belarus when the case was opened. Pushkin was accused under Part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code (rehabilitation of Nazism), as well as under Article 370 of the Criminal Code (desecration of state symbols).

On March 30, 2022, Ales Pushkin was sentenced to five years of imprisonment in a strict-regime penal colony. In spring 2023, he was transferred to the Hrodna prison. There, in prison, Pushkin developed peritonitis, and before his death, he was in a septic state with multi-organ failure. It was reported that his death occurred due to the failure to provide medical assistance in prison; there were almost no chances of survival even in the hospital.

Ales Pushkin was 57 years old.

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