Earlier, “Our House” repeatedly wrote about the vile political case against seventeen-year-old Mikita Zalatarou from Gomel, who suffers from epileptic disorder. It is illegal and unproven accused of crimes under part 1 of article 293 of the criminal code through part 1 of article 13 of the criminal code and part 1 of article 295-3 (Preparation for participation in the riots).Mikita is captured by the neo-policemen on August 11, 2020, in the tradition of the Nazis. The executioner of the NKVD came for him to his house early in the morning.

On February 22, 2021, Mikita was sentenced to 5 years in an educational colony, and on April 23, 2021, the court rejected his appeal.

All the time Mikita was in the pre-trial detention centre, he was subjected to torture (including with the help of specific means-a stun gun), beatings, forces tried to humiliate him morally. Mikita needs constant medical treatment with prolonged-acting drugs, but the punishers did not give him medications regularly, reducing their therapeutic effect to nothing. The teenager told his father that he was “beaten every day” in the pre-trial detention centre. Also, all the time, starting from August 2020, Mikita is kept in a solitary cell, experiencing a lack of oxygen and sunlight.

Unfortunately, the misadventures of the unfortunate Mikita Zalatarou did not end there.

On June 2, 2021, another criminal case against him was transferred to the court. This time, Mikita was accused under Part 1 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (Violence or the threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies).

It happened in the pre-trial detention centre No. 3 in Gomel. Punishers Luchkin and Khatskov attacked, as it seemed to them, a defenceless child in the corridor of the isolation ward, to which they received a worthy rebuff. Such “heroes” serve as henchmen of the dictator. Also, an employee of the pre-trial detention centre Khovbok made accusations against Mikita that he “threatened her and her family with physical violence.”

As a result, on July 14, 2021, the court sentenced the child to another 1.5 years in prison. In total, Mikita will have to spend another 4.5 years in the captivity of the punishers. Unscrupulous mercenaries also demanded from the child “compensation for harm” for 1000 rubles each. The court reduced this figure to 500 rubles.

Here is what Mikita’s father, Mikhail Lapunou, explained to us earlier about what happened in the pre-trial detention centre No. 3:

“I believe that my son was deliberately provoked to this. There is nothing wrong with his head, despite his illness. But when he does not take the medications prescribed by the doctor, his perception of reality changes, he becomes nervous, irritable. And they didn’t give him medicines in the pre-trial detention centre. I am sure that the employees perfectly understood the consequences of the lack of treatment for Mikita since all the medical documents are in his file. That’s why they provoked the child to rash words to “bring him to justice” again.

We communicated with Mikhail both before and after the new illegal “trial” of Mikita.

“Today was the first trial. There was a lot of lying abomination. My heart is breaking. Mikita became different, but he didn’t break down. I am overwhelmed with a sense of pride for my son. For almost a year, they have been harassing him. And he does not give up. They showed videos, even with sound. They are already afraid of him. There were two victims, a man about 25 years old, with a trembling voice and a woman about 50 years old (deputy head of the pre-trial detention centre). They said that Mikita attacked them. But Mikita defended himself. My son has been without light and air for almost a year. And his refusal to meet the demands of the guards is a normal reaction. He doesn’t want to be kind to those who torture him.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to my son. But in the process, he said that he had got drugs irregularly. It was clear from the “victims” that they had not come there of their own free will. But they asked me to give evidence in a closed court. They’re scared. The judge asked: what’s the point? They indicated all their data in the statement of appeal. It was clear that they did not write the papers on the claim. Nikita smiled and asked not to write a petition. He wants to go to the zone as soon as possible. I see what they did to my son. Thank you for your support and understanding,” Mikhail shared with us his observations and impressions from the first court session.

Mikita Zalatarou himself said in his last word that he “did not attack, but defended” and that “he did not plan to implement the threats and expressed them on emotions.”

The boy’s father is sure that his son is deliberately provoked to rash actions in a difficult moral situation by the staff of the pre-trial detention centre only because Mikita is a political prisoner.

“Mikita did absolutely nothing. It is revenge on the part of the authorities. The son is being held in prison illegally, and he refuses to obey. Yes, he threatened an aunt in a uniform. Did they break his hands? Did they want his son to say “thank you” to them? Mikita defended himself from people who tormented him for a long time. This trial was held in the same way as the first one. They pretended that “everything is according to the law” and put labels on it: “an extremist who is prone to taking hostages.” Mikita pretty much spoils their lives, and he has a normal reaction to aggression in his direction. At the appointment, he said that he had received a paper with the requirement to write a petition for clemency. I suggested that my son write an appeal. Mikita said no,” this is how Mikhail Lapunov commented on the whole tragedy that is happening to his son.

We will continue to follow the fate of the brave Mikita Zalatarou, who alone goes against the system that made him prisoner. The time will come – and hundreds of thousands of young and courageous patriots of Belarus will clench into one steel fist to put an end to fascism in our Homeland once and for all.

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