January 2022 Action
January 2022 Action
At 16, Mikita Zalatarou was caught up in a crowd protesting fraudulent elections in Belarus in August 2020. After being held without charges or legal representation for 6 months, the teenager was falsely accused of throwing Molotov cocktails and convicted with insufficient evidence—primarily the testimony of a taxi driver who only indicated that he gave Mikita a ride from the city. Now serving 5 years in a child educational prison colony, Mikita has been tortured, held in solitary confinement, and denied medical treatment for his epilepsy. Join his parents and the international community in calling for his immediate and unconditional release!
Write to:
Andrei Shved, Prosecutor General
22 Internatsionalnaya Street
Minsk 220030
Belarus
Salutation:
Your Honorable Prosecutor General Shved
Suggested points:
- Express your deep concern that the conviction and imprisonment of teenager Mikita Zalatarou was wrongful and a miscarriage of justice.
- Indicate that you are aware that there was insufficient evidence to convict him, and that while in custody he was tortured.
- Express your outrage that he was interrogated without an adult or lawyer present, and that he has been held in solitary confinement, and denied medical treatment for his epilepsy.
- Respectfully urge Prosecutor General Shved to use the power and privilege of his position to right this miscarriage of justice and work for the immediate and unconditional release of Mikita Zalatarou.