Alyaksandr Kazulin ( be, Аляксандр Уладзіслававіч Казулін, russian: Александр Владиславович Козулин, born 25 November 1955 in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

) is the former leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party and one of the candidates who ran for the office of

President of Belarus The president of the Republic of Belarus ( be, Прэзідэнт Рэспублікі Беларусь; russian: Президент Республики Беларусь) is the head of state and head of government of Belarus. The office was cre ...

on 19 March 2006. He was a rector of the

Belarusian State University Belarusian State University (BSU) ( be, links=no, Белару́скі дзяржа́ўны ўніверсітэ́т, ; russian: links=no, Белору́сский госуда́рственный университе́т) is a university in Mins ...

(BSU) from 1996 to 2003 and a government minister serving under Belarus President Lukashenko but later fell out of favor. He holds a PhD in mathematics and

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

. Several weeks before the election, on 2 March 2006, Kazulin was beaten and detained by police after attempting to enter the

All Belarusian People's Assembly The All Belarusian People's Assembly ( be, Усебеларускі народны сход, russian: Всебелорусское народное собрание) is a general meeting of the Belarusian Government with industry leaders and other ...

. He was charged with disorderly conduct and released after being held in custody for eight hours. During the events following the 19 March 2006 presidential election, on 25 March, Kazulin was present in a confrontation between demonstrators and police. Reportedly he walked to the commanding officer with flowers in his hand, and police knocked him off his feet, beat him up, and then detained him. In a post-election interview Kazulin said, "We're not afraid of tanks and violence; we're afraid of prisons and having no freedom. We're tired of living in a spiritual prison." On 13 July 2006, Kazulin was sentenced to jail for five and a half years at a court in Minsk. He was convicted for his role in the March protests with the official charge being of

hooliganism Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events. Etymology There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...

and incitement to mass disorder during the events of 25 March.

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

recognized him as a prisoner of conscience. On 26 February 2008, he was allowed to attend his wife's funeral, after threatening to starve himself if he was not released. On 16 August 2008, he was released from prison altogether.

References

External links

Official home page
1955 births Living people Politicians from Minsk Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Assembly) politicians Candidates for President of Belarus Belarusian State University alumni Amnesty International prisoners of conscience held by Belarus {{Belarus-bio-stub