The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for 19 Mar 2012

19.03.2012 In Wake Of Belarus Executions, Doubts About Judicial Process

VITSEBSK, Belarus -- Candles and flowers litter the stairwell outside the apartment of Lyubou Kavalyova, the mother of one of the two men executed for the April 2011 subway bombing in the Belarusian capital, Minsk.

19.03.2012 FIDH strongly condemns the execution of two young men after a blatantly unfair trial

"These executions are a further illustration of the total absence of an independent judiciary in Belarus, since the guilt of the two young men has not been clearly established and the trial was not fair. These capital shootings look like a way to silence two disturbing witnesses", said Souhayr Belhassen, President of FIDH.

19.03.2012 IBB director not allowed entering Belarus

Dr. Astrid Sahm, director of the Minsk-based Johannes Rau International Centre for Education and Exchange (IBB), has not been allowed entering Belarus, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

19.03.2012 Andres Herkel: Executed may know something about the real organisers of the terrorist attack

Why should the case of Uladzislau Kavalyou and Dzmitry Kanavalau, two young workers from Vitebsk, be so sensitive?

19.03.2012 German mass media: “Execution of two Belarusians is attempt to provoke Europe”

Dictator Lukashenka has cynically ignored all protests of Europe, writes Frankfurter Rundschau (Germany).

19.03.2012 KGB presses on independent press distributors in regions

An officer of Shklou department of the KGB visited a shop of Byalynichy-based businessman and democratic activist Mikalai Myatselitsa.

19.03.2012 UCP denied premised for congress

On March 19 the leadership of the United Civil Party received a letter from the Belarusian Union of Consumers’ Societies.

19.03.2012 Brest prosecuting authorities issue warning to Radio Racyja journalist

Zmitser Kisel, journalist of the Poland-based independent Radio Racyja, has received an official warning from Brest Regional Prosecutor’s Office for allegedly working in Belarus without accreditation from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

19.03.2012 Baranavichy activist appeals prosecutor’s warnings

Baranavichy civil activist Ryhor Hryk has lodged a complaint with Prosecutor General’s Office contesting a number of warnings issued against the activist by Baranavichy city and Brest regional prosecutors.

19.03.2012 Slonim residents urge Prosecutor General to release political prisoners

A group of residents of the town of Slonim have addressed Prosecutor General Aliaksandr Koniuk with a demand to immediately release Siarhei Kavalenka, referring to his extremely poor condition.

19.03.2012 Brest police stop authorized picket

Liavontsi Chypurnykh, Brest activist of the United Leftist Party “Fair World”, had to stop a social picket after he was approached by local police, who tried to search him.

19.03.2012 President of the Nordic Council strongly condemns the executions in Belarus

“The death penalty is cruel. Executing the two men have further damaged the reputation of Belarus and it shows how far removed the country is at present from European values”, says the President of the Nordic Council, Kimmo Sasi, Finland.

19.03.2012 Eight detained in picket against death penalty in Minsk

On 16 March, Minsk police reportedly detained eight persons as they were laying flowers under the memorial tablet to the victims of the 11 April 2011 terrorist act.

19.03.2012 Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders: Human rights defenders banned from travelling abroad!

Paris-Geneva, March 16, 2012. The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), deplores the series of travel bans imposed on a number of human rights defenders by the Belarusian authorities, amid the worsening of EU-Belarus diplomatic relations.

19.03.2012 Former Belarus Leader Barred From Leaving Country

Belarus first post-Soviet leader, Stanislau Shushkevich, says authorities have prevented him from leaving the country by removing him from a train bound for the capital of neighboring Lithuania.