Belarus Headlines

Belarus Says Last “Good-Bye” to Iryna Kazulina In September 2007, Iryna Kazulina was one of the organizers of an international conference on breast cancer. She wrote a book about her struggle with the disease but did not manage to complete it. “The fact of illness is not a reason for selfisolation, to speak of accepting any sacrifice from my relatives,” she said. “I believe that life should go on and the illness is not a good reason to disturb its course. It’s necessary to try to do everything possible and continue to live a full life.” Mrs. Kazulina died in an ambulance on the way to hospital on February 23. The administration of the Vitsba 3 correctional institution near Vitsebsk, where her husband is being kept, first denied Mr. Kazulin a permission to attend his wife’s funeral. The opposition leader went on a hunger strike, his two daughters and three other supporters joined him. The United States and the European Union called for the release of all political prisoners in Belarus, including Mr. Kazulin.