31.07.2009 Activist Kruk demands unbiased inspection of his case

Ivan Kruk, public activist from the town of Astravets, Hrodna region, one of the initiators of the public campaign against the construction of a nuclear power plant, has lodged another complaint with Hrodna Regional Prosecutor’s Office demanding to initiate another full and unbiased inspection of his previous claim, which was left unattended by the authorities. ‘Astravets policemen, together with court officials and representatives of the local Prosecutor’s Office, had a political motivation to prosecute me at any cost. Meanwhile, they made a number of procedural mistakes while considering the materials of my civil prosecution,’ said Mr.Kruk in his complaint. On 26 June Astravets District Court fined Ivan Kruk BYR 700,000 for distributing independent media. The complaint was also sent to the International Federation of Human Rights and a number of Belarusian mass media.

31.07.2009 Some 2,500 persons released under amnesty

Some 2,500 convicts have been released from Belarusian prisons under an amnesty marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus from the Nazi invaders, the BELTA news agency reports quoting Minister of the Interior Anatol Kuliashou. At a special session of the Parliamentary Commission on Foreign Affairs and CIS Relations, Mr.Kuliashou also mentioned the possibility of liberalizing the criminal legislation of Belarus. Still, the Minister admitted Belarus occupies the third place in the number of convicts, Russia and the USA taking the first two.

31.07.2009 Court denied human rights activists and took side of “Sovetskaya Belorussia”

The Minsk City Court dismissed the claim of Halina Yubko, head of the initiative “Women against Lawlessness in Courts and Procuracy” against the newspaper of Lukashenka’s Administration.

The Savetski district court of Minsk dismissed the claim against “Sovetsakaya Belorusia” a month ago, Radio Svaboda reports.

Halina Yubko found offensive the information spread by the newspaper in February about the initiative “Women against Lawlessness in Courts and Procuracy”. The newspaper wrote that women unsatisfied with court judgements allegedly “press courts with tears and cries”. Halina Yubko, found a victim by court, can’t reach a solution of case for some years, said at the trial she “had used only legal means and was seeking the rights guaranteed by the Constitution”.