HRODNA, Belarus -- Officials at a detention center in Belarus say jailed businessman and political activist Mikalay Autukhovich, who has been refusing food and water since July 11, has drunk some tea but remains on an IV drip.
The administration of Detention Center No. 1 in the western city of Hrodna said that the 59-year-old had been connected to an IV on August 1.
Autukhovich, whose trial started in May, has been unable to be present in the courtroom since last week due to his health condition, which significantly worsened after he launched the hunger strike.
Autukhovich’s relatives said earlier that he lost some 20 kilograms after he started the hunger strike to demand prison authorities allow him to receive newspapers and letters from his friends and relatives.
Autukhovich was charged with high treason, creating a criminal group and participating in its activities, attempting to seize power, inciting social hatred, and numerous other charges, including terrorism and weapons charges. If convicted, Autukhovich faces the death penalty or life in prison.
He and 11 co-defendants face the same charges, with the exception of high treason. Some were also charged with conspiracy and the preparation of actions to disrupt social order.
Autukhovich and the other defendants were arrested in December 2020 in the wake of a crackdown on activists, opposition politicians, independent journalists, and civil society following months-long rallies protesting the results of the August 2020 presidential poll that announced authoritarian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who has ruled the country since 1994, as the winner.
Opposition members, protesters, and the West have insisted that the election was rigged.
Investigators say Autukhovich and his group conducted several arson attacks against vehicles belonging to police officers and planned attacks on their property. Autukhovich has rejected all the charges. It is not known if any of his co-defendants pleaded guilty.
Autukhovich previously spent seven years and five months in prison on charges of illegal weapons possession, which he and his supporters rejected as politically motivated.