On March 12, near the Belarusian embassy in London, a picket was held in support of British citizen Alan Smith, who is serving time in correctional colony No. 3 near Viciebsk on charges of organizing illegal migration.
The picket was told by Magdalena Volinska, Alan Smith's civil wife. The action is dedicated not only to her husband, but also to two other prisoners who are in the Vitba colony together with him – the Japanese artist Daichi Yoshid and the Belarusian regional specialist Alesia Yurkoyt:
"We started our protest at 11 am under heavy rain. I went to the consulate, which is in the same building as the embassy, and asked me to send a letter to the Belarusian Consul to inform him about our event. The Consul asked to put the letter in the mailbox near the embassy's door. 15 people joined my protest, I am grateful to them all. We stood there and shouted: "Freedom to Alan". At the end of our protest, the city police came to check whether everything was in order, asked me, as an organizer, a few questions and wished good luck."
Prehistory
Alan Smith is an Iraqi, originally from Kurdistan, lived in London until his detention and had British citizenship. He is a businessman, he leads a company that is registered in Poland, is engaged in establishing business ties between Kurdish and European businessmen. Also has a firm in the UK, conducts construction business in the oil industry.
Alan Smith, together with his wife Magdalena (born in Poland) founded the Kurdish-European Business Center. According to Magdalena, the company on a legal basis helped businessmen from the Middle East draw up documents to live and work in European countries. In addition, they organized treatment in European hospitals for immigrants from Iraq.
"In September 2016, Alan and I arrived in Belarus at the request of our partner-businessman, as well as to help another client who was looking for a clinic for herself. But by our arrival she had managed to contact people involved in organizing illegal trips across the border. Neither I nor Alan knew about it", – Magdalena told Belsat.
At the end of September 2016, Alan was detained in Brest on suspicion of organizing an illegal migration channel and transferred to pre-trial detention center No. 2 in Viciebsk.
In July 2017, Hłybokaje Court found Smith guilty of part 1 of Article 371-1 (organization of illegal migration) and awarded 2 years in a general-regime colony (the charge required a period of 6 years). On November 14, 2017, the Viciebsk Regional Court rejected the appeal, leaving the verdict unchanged.
What is happening now?
Magdalena created a support group for Alan in Facebook and continues to insist that her husband is not to blame for anything. She maintains contact with her husband through lawyers and human rights defenders.
"With this picket, I want to draw attention to the situation of Alan in the Viciebsk colony, – Magdalena said. – He was deprived of letters, I also do not receive from him almost no news. We are experiencing problems with the transfer of parcels for him. All Alan's friends who spoke English were transferred to another building, so no one can help him with the translation".
According to Magdalena, a month ago her husband and several other prisoners received serious poisoning and went to the hospital:
"The authorities of the prison hid this information." I'm worried about his health, but I do not get any information about it. I cannot visit him, because it's not safe for me. The only way to support communication with him is letters,"the wife of the prisoner says.
According to Magdalena, the case awaits final consideration in the Supreme Court. Magda believes that her husband could be released if he pleaded guilty, since he had already served half the sentence. However, not knowing the Russian, Alan refuses to sign any papers.
"I hope that this protest will have some effect, and Alan will return home," Magda said.
According to nv-online.info
