BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

08/12/2006

Wife: Jailed Belarusian starving self

MINSK, Belarus - A Belarusian opposition leader imprisoned since last spring's protests has entered the 50th day of a hunger strike and is in critical condition, his wife said Friday.

Alexander Kozulin began refusing solid food in October to try to draw attention to the authoritarian country's treatment of its opponents; since then he has consumed only liquids.

Kozulin was arrested in March after leading a protest march following presidential elections in which he was one of four candidates. The elections, in which Alexander Lukashenko was declared winner of a third term, were widely criticized in the West as undemocratic.

This summer, Kozulin was sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison. His wife, Irina, told The Associated Press she was allowed to speak with him by telephone Friday.

"The condition of his health is critical; he can barely talk and I am preparing for the worst," she said.

The Belarusian opposition's main figure, Alexander Milinkevich, has called on Kozulin to end the fast.

"Kozulin's death would be a useless catastrophe. He is significantly more use to Belarus alive," Milinkevich said.

Source:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061208/ap_on_re_eu/belarus_opposition_1