> Skip to content
FEATURED:
  • The Evolution of Race in Admissions
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
  • News
  • Advice
  • The Review
  • Data
  • Current Issue
  • Virtual Events
  • Store
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
    • Featured Products
    • Reports
    • Data
    • Collections
    • Back Issues
  • Jobs
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
    • Find a Job
    • Post a Job
Sign In
ADVERTISEMENT
News
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Show more sharing options
Share
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Email
  • Copy Link URLCopied!
  • Print

Belarus Releases Imprisoned Academic

By  Bryon MacWilliams
September 2, 2005

Belarus has released from prison a well-known professor who had accused government officials of playing down the health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The professor, Yuri I. Bandazhevsky, is a former rector of the Gomel State Medical Institute. He was unexpectedly freed last month while serving the fourth year of an eight-year term at a prison in the capital, Minsk.

He was convicted in 2001 of instructing a vice rector at the institute to demand bribes from the parents of potential students, charges that he has consistently denied.

We’re sorry. Something went wrong.

We are unable to fully display the content of this page.

The most likely cause of this is a content blocker on your computer or network. Please make sure your computer, VPN, or network allows javascript and allows content to be delivered from c950.chronicle.com and chronicle.blueconic.net.

Once javascript and access to those URLs are allowed, please refresh this page. You may then be asked to log in, create an account if you don't already have one, or subscribe.

If you continue to experience issues, contact us at 202-466-1032 or help@chronicle.com

Belarus has released from prison a well-known professor who had accused government officials of playing down the health consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The professor, Yuri I. Bandazhevsky, is a former rector of the Gomel State Medical Institute. He was unexpectedly freed last month while serving the fourth year of an eight-year term at a prison in the capital, Minsk.

He was convicted in 2001 of instructing a vice rector at the institute to demand bribes from the parents of potential students, charges that he has consistently denied.

Observers outside Belarus regarded the trial as unfair and saw the sentence as punishment for Mr. Bandazhevsky’s having openly criticized the government’s response to the radioactive fallout from the 1986 explosion of the nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, in neighboring Ukraine.

Medical research that he conducted with his wife, Galina, a physician, had found direct pathological effects of the radiation on children’s health -- findings that contradicted the government’s official position.

ADVERTISEMENT

After he was jailed, Amnesty International declared him to be a prisoner of conscience and began a worldwide campaign for his freedom. Some 6,000 people from the United States sent e-mail messages seeking his release.

Neither Mr. Bandazhevsky nor his advocates had anticipated his recent release, which came when Belarus’s president, Aleksandr Lukashenko, declared a general amnesty to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Under the terms of his sentence, Mr. Bandazhevsky’s property was confiscated and he is forbidden to hold administrative positions for the next five years. In May the Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity, a nonprofit group based in France, announced that it would raise funds to build a biomedical research lab in Minsk in cooperation with the Bandazhevskys.

“It’s unlikely that I will undertake anything different than the struggle for public health, for the realization in society of that which threatens them,” the professor said after his release in an interview with the Belarusian service of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe.

While imprisoned Mr. Bandazhevsky wrote a book, The Philosophy of My Life, which is scheduled for publication in France.

ADVERTISEMENT


http://chronicle.com Section: International Volume 52, Issue 2, Page A68

We welcome your thoughts and questions about this article. Please email the editors or submit a letter for publication.
International
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
    Explore
    • Get Newsletters
    • Letters
    • Free Reports and Guides
    • Blogs
    • Virtual Events
    • Chronicle Store
    • Find a Job
  • The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
    The Chronicle
    • About Us
    • DEI Commitment Statement
    • Write for Us
    • Talk to Us
    • Work at The Chronicle
    • User Agreement
    • Privacy Policy
    • California Privacy Policy
    • Site Map
    • Accessibility Statement
  • Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
    Customer Assistance
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise With Us
    • Post a Job
    • Advertising Terms and Conditions
    • Reprints & Permissions
    • Do Not Sell My Personal Information
  • Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
    Subscribe
    • Individual Subscriptions
    • Institutional Subscriptions
    • Subscription & Account FAQ
    • Manage Newsletters
    • Manage Your Account
1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037
© 2023 The Chronicle of Higher Education
  • twitter
  • instagram
  • youtube
  • facebook
  • linkedin