The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for 1 Oct 2010

01.10.2010 Valery Shchukin fined 1 mln rubles

On 1 October the Leninski District Court of Mahiliou fined the human rights defender Valery Shchukin 1,050,000 rubles. Judge Stanislau Shenderovich found him guilty of producing, trafficking and distributing printed materials that had been produced with violation of the Belarusian legislation.

01.10.2010 Baran: authorities ban collecting signatures at bus stops

Decision of the Baran Town Executive Committee #166 About defining the places where the picketing for collecting signatures for the nomination of candidates for President of the Republic of Belarus should be banned, adopted on 21 September, was published only ten days after in issue #112 of Arshanskaya Hazeta.

01.10.2010 Authorities started haunting Ales Straltsou and Aleh Korban

The civil activist Ales Straltsou keeps receiving telephone calls from some ‘Siarhei Ivanavich’ who wants to talk about the old ‘Process of 14’ and its participants. He even agreed to come to the meeting on his own.

01.10.2010 Babruisk: two deputies to work in district electoral commissions

The list of the people who became members of the Leninski and the Pershamaiski District Territorial Electoral Commissions were published in issue #78 of the newspaper of the Babruisk Town Executive Committee, Babruiskaye Zhyttsio, for 1 October 2010. 13 persons were included in each commission.

01.10.2010 Results of formation of Orsha town and Orsha district territorial electoral commissions appealed at court

The Orsha Town Committee of the Belarusian Leftist Party Fair World lodged a claim against the decision of the Orsha Town Executive Committee and the Presidium of the Orsha Town Council of Deputies about the formation of the Orsha Town Electoral Commission.

01.10.2010 Hrodna region: somebody’s educated, somebody’s not even informed

On 1 October the Deputy Chairperson of the Central Electoral Commission Mikalai Lazavik held an educational seminar for chairpersons of the territorial electoral commissions of the Hrodna region. Though we don’t know anything about the essence of this seminar, we can surely state the lack of publicly accessible information about the elections of President of the Republic of Belarus.

01.10.2010 Homel Regional Court justifies non-inclusion of oppositionists in electoral commission

The regional organizations of the Fair World, the United Civil Party and the Belarusian Popular Front tried to appeal against the non-inclusion of their representatives in the Homel Region Electoral Commission. On 1 October the Homel Regional Court issued a verdict confirming the legality of the formation of the commission.

01.10.2010 Another attempt to draft Yauhen Yakavenka

In June 2010 the member of the Party of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Yauhen Yakavenka was sentenced to 1 year of personal restraint with direction to an open penitentiary institution for the demand to be assigned to an alternative civilian service. Recently Mr. Yakavenka has received an answer from the Ministry of Defense to his request to be assigned to alternative civilian service. The answer, signed by the commissioner of the Homel City Executive Committee, colonel Yafimchyk, reads that the correspondence with the draftee on this matter is stopped.

01.10.2010 More anarchists detained by police

On 30 September the police burst into the apartment of the civil activist Barys Ashchepkau who helped the parents and members of the arrested anarchists to communicate with human rights defenders.

01.10.2010 Baranavichy: secret sitting of city electoral commission

The first sitting of the Baranavichy City Territorial Election Commission was held in the atmosphere of secrecy on 30 September. It was impossible to find anything about it on the phone and there was n information in the state newspaper Nash Krai either.

01.10.2010 Homel: officials are included in district electoral commissions as representatives of public associations

At first sight, it’s difficult to reproach the Homel authorities in violations of the electoral laws: about a half or even more representatives of the electoral commissions belong to public associations. However, if we have a close look at them it becomes clear that these are the same officials who work at executive committees and head enterprises and state organizations. The city has four district electoral commissions, and their composition is almost identical. Each commission includes a representative of Belaya Rus, the Belarusian Republican Youth Union (BRSM), veterans, the Belarusian Women’s Union and the trade union of workers of state institutions. All these organizations are so-called ‘state NGOs’. There are also such associations as the union of military officers and the peace foundation.

01.10.2010 Biaroza citizens appeal against non-inclusion in Biaroza District Electoral Commission

The residents of Biaroza Tamara Schapiotkina and Siarhei Rusetski filed a lawsuit to the Biaroza District Court. They ask to consider the decision of the Presidium of the Biaroza District Council of Deputies and the Biaroza District Executive Committee about the establishment of the Biaroza District Electoral Commission on elections of President of the Republic of Belarus illegal and to include them in the commission.