Maria Kalesnikava’s relatives have not received any letters from her for more than a year and a half. The Belarussian political prisoner spent almost all this time in a cell with no hot water, but with a strong smell of sewage. An ulcer prevents Kalesnikava from eating prison food. Her sister Tatiana Khomich reports that Kalesnikava (175 cm) weighs only 45 kilograms. Independent outlet Mediazona Belarus reports about the inhuman conditions Kalesnikava faces in prison.

Belarussian political prisoner Maria Kalesnikava. Image Instagram Maria Kalesnikava.

By Asya Panasevich

Maria Kalesnikava has been in 'cell-type confinement' of Gomel Penal Colony No. 4 for women since 10 March 2023. She was placed there three months after she had been admitted to the intensive care unit with peritonitis due to a perforated ulcer (a hole in the stomach wall). The cell is a room approximately 1.6 by 2.5 m. There are two bunks (for two people) attached to the walls, which are lowered only for sleeping between 8:30 p.m. and 5 a.m.

The toilet is a hole in the floor in the corner of the cell. It is separated by a tin sheet the size of a newspaper spread, which does not conceal you. 'And all the odour goes into this room, you breathe it every day. So you literally live in a toilet,' Mediazona quotes a source.

Narrow ‘benches’ are nailed to the floor in the middle of the cell, there’s also a bedside table made of metal, which cannot be moved either. Only cold water runs in the sink. A shower is allowed once a week. The only window is located under the ceiling. There is a grate on it from the side of the cell. There is about 60 cm of wall between it and the window frame.

Deteriorating health

Because of her illness, Maria has to follow a certain diet, but in 'cell-type confinement' she gets what other prisoners eat. When Maria returned to the colony after being discharged from the hospital, she asked for porridge — food she can actually eat. She is allowed to receive only one parcel or small package once every six months in the penal colony.

According to Mediazona’s source, due to malnutrition and the inhuman conditions in which Maria has been kept for a year and a half, her health is deteriorating: she herself told the colony administration about it. During one of the inspections, which was attended by the head of the colony, Maria said: 'I am concerned about my health', and asked where her medical parcel and letters were. The head of the colony replied that 'everyone had forgotten about her.' According to independent Belarussian newspaper Novy Chas, Maria was not given the medical care she requested for a long time and her letters were torn up in front of her eyes.

Daily routine

Maria gets up at 5 a.m. every morning, fixes and lifts the heavy ‘bed’ against the wall. Then the door opens: she takes a rubbish bucket and, accompanied by a prison guard, leaves the cell. She goes to get a rag and chlorinated water. Maria has about 15 minutes to clean up, then the rag is taken away by one of the inmates working in the housekeeping unit.

At about 6 a.m. Maria is brought breakfast. Usually it is porridge with added fat, a piece of white bread, and sweet tea. 'The porridge is made with milk. There is definitely a fat additive in it to give it some kind of nourishment. For some reason, the tea is so sweet that it is impossible to drink,' says our source.

Sometimes for breakfast there can be a boiled egg or - on the enhanced diet that Kalesnikava received after the operation - cottage cheese. During breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the medical officer distributes prescribed medication to the inmates. In the mornings, sometimes a cardiogram is performed.

'A "walk" is clearly an overstatement. You’re just standing outside for half an hour'

After breakfast, an inspection comes to Maria’s cell. The door opens again, the colony staff checks Kalesnikava’s appearance and the cleanliness of the cell. From 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. she is taken out for a walk in a glass-walled yard 1.5 by 1.5 m with grating on top. Inmates in 'cell-type confinement' are only allowed a half-hour walk a day. 'A "walk" is clearly an overstatement. You’re just standing outside for half an hour. And when it’s that early, the sun doesn’t even reach the yard.'

After the walk, Maria sits in her cell all day. All she has is a towel, a toothbrush and paste, toilet paper, (possibly) a mug and a book. With the permission of the staff, inmates can boil water during meals - but only if they have a boiling pot and a mug.

At noon, Maria receives lunch. She is given a fruit drink (kisel or kompot), soup and a main course (e.g. pilaf). One of the options for dinner at 6:00 p.m. is mashed potatoes and fried fish. At 8:30 p.m. the preparation for sleep begins: Maria reclines the ‘bed’ from the wall. The order ‘lights out’ is given at 21:00, but the lights themselves aren’t actually switched off in the cell throughout the night.

40 roubles per month

Maria Kalesnikava can spend 40 roubles (just under €11) per month from her account for shopping in the colony’s commissary. Convicts who are doing time in the camp - not in the 'cell-type confinement' - can visit the commissary under an escort of guards and choose what they need. Maria makes a list, money is deducted from her account, and the staff brings the goods to her cell. She doesn’t have access to the commissary catalogue, so the goods she needs are not always available. 

Mediazona studied the prices on the website of Penal Colony No. 4 commissary, and here’s what Maria Kalesnikava can buy with 40 roubles a month there:

• 10 rolls of toilet paper: 4.6 roubles;
• a pack of menstrual pads: about 4 roubles;
• toothpaste and a toothbrush: 10 roubles;
• shower gel: 6.50;
• shampoo: almost 8.

If you have to buy all the hygiene products in a month, you have about 7 roubles (€1,92) left for food. Here are some food prices for comparison:

• tea + coffee: about 15 roubles,
• buckwheat flakes: 3.50,
• a packet of cottage cheese: 2 roubles,
• canned cod liver: 20 roubles,
• a kilo of oranges: about 7 roubles.

In the commissary, Chinese cabbage costs 7 rubles per kilo. White cabbage is 1.5 rubles, but it turns out more expensive because of its weight. According to Mediazona’s source, Maria can afford soap (aka shampoo), shower gel, and deodorant from hygiene products. Toilet paper is needed with a reserve, as 'it has many functions: a napkin, a daily pad.' As for food, the cheapest biscuits, tea, and coffee are 'a great luxury.''So in the end, she has to decide: either she will eat, or wash her hair with shampoo, or buy toilet paper,' says the source.

Dangerous situation

Imprisonment in 'cell-type confinement', according to the Belarusian Penitentiary Code, can last for up to six months, but Maria Kalesnikava is still there after more than a year. In regular conditions of a penal colony, women live in groups of several dozen people in so-called barracks. They are taken to work, to the canteen, and to the commissary.

According to information from Mediazona's sources, most of the year and half that Maria Kalesnikava has spent in 'cell-type confinement' she’s been alone. It is known that a cellmate who was described as being 'prone to conflict' was placed with her for a period of time.

Punishment can be received for almost any words to the prison staff

Shortly before Maria was due to return from 'cell-type confinement' to the barracks (on 10 March 2024), she was sentenced to three days of SHIZO for disrespectful attitude towards the staff. In Belarussian and Russian prisons, SHIZO is the most severe type of solitary confinement. Former political prisoners say that punishment can be received for almost any words to the staff. For example, if you say 'young man' to a guard. After SHIZO, Kalesnikava returned to 'cell-type confinement'.

Belarus opposition activist Tatsiana Khomich holds a photo of her sister Maria Kalesnikava during the Charlemagne Prize (Karlspreis) award ceremony in the town hall of Aachen, Germany, 09 May 2024. Photo: Christopher Neundorf / EPA / ANP

So the situation isn’t bad, it’s extremely dangerous. 'They need Masha to show repentance, of course,' says our source. Relatives received the last letter from Maria on 15 February 2023. Parcels are forbidden, and the lawyer is not allowed to visit her.'

'According to my information, today Maria is actually starving in the colony. She weighs 45 kg, while her height is 175 cm. Her illness requires a diet, so she cannot eat much from the prison menu,' wrote Tatyana Khomich, Kalesnikava’s sister. 'To feed an ulcer patient with balanda [tasteless gruel, served to prisoners as their main diet] is to torture and slowly kills them. To deny people the right to correspond with their family is to accelerate their death.'

This article was originally published and translated to English by Mediazona's Belarussian outlet.