Belarusian jailed for satirical drawing dies behind bars

By YURAS KARMANAU
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarus’ leading rights organization says a man sentenced to jail over a satirical drawing of authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has died behind bars. The Viasna Human Rights Center said Mikalai Klimowicz, a 61-year-old blogger and activist, died on Sunday while in prison in northeastern Belarus. Klimowicz was given a one-year sentence in February for drawing a caricature of the Belarusian strongman and sharing it on social media, According to Viasna, prison authorities denied him medication for his heart disease. Belarusian officials on Monday confirmed Klimovicz’s death, but did not clarify what caused it.