The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for 14 Jan 2013

14.01.2013 "Flight" – animation about death penalty in Belarus (video)

The animation film, created by talented volunteers of the campaign "Human Rights Defenders against Death Penalty", dwells on the topic of the cruelty and inhumanity of the death penalty in Belarus. Our country is the last one in Europe and on the post-Soviet space where the death penalty is still used.

14.01.2013 Ales Bialiatski: "I am very grateful to the people who write me!"

In his letters of the New Year period Ales Bialiatski says that he "has been totally covered with the avalanche of letters and postcards when congratulations were added to the action of support". Sometimes he received about 500 letters a day from Belarus and abroad.

14.01.2013 Aleh Volchak addresses UN Human Rights Committee in connection with arrests

The head of the human rights center "Legal Assistance to the Population" Aleh Volchak applied to the UN Human Rights Committee with a complaint in which he lists the facts of systemic violation of the civil rights to freedom and personal immunity, as well as the use of politically motivated adverse discrimination.

14.01.2013 Disabled pensioner fined 3 million rubles for an attempt to set afire the head of the village executive committee

The Biaroza District Court fined Pavel Levashevich, a 89-year-old pensioner from the village of Sakalova in the Biaroza district who has a bad sight, a former prisoner of a German concentration camp, was sentenced to 3 million rubles of fine for an attempt to set afire himself and the head of the Sakalova village executive committee. Though Mr. Levashevich regrets about his deed, he thinks that the verdict is too severe:

14.01.2013 Aleh Stakhayevich: the independent trade union organization at "Granite" still exists

Despite the ceaseless systemic pressure, threats and dismissals, the organization of the independent trade union at the stone-mining enterprise "Granite" in Mikashevichy continues its activities.

14.01.2013 Brest: independent journalists issued with an official warning

The prosecutor's office came to the conclusion that the articles which were published at the website of Radio "Racyja" under the nickname Alisa Pol really belonged to Alina Litvinchuk. However, the deputy prosecutor of the Brest region Aliaksandr Tochka, who passed the warning to the journalist, failed to explain how the prosecutor's office had come to such conclusion.

14.01.2013 Orsha coalition of democratic forces got a letter from Ales Bialiatski

The Orsha coalition of democratic forces sent greeting letters to the 12 Belarusian political prisoners on the eve of the New Year holidays. The coalition participants wished all convicts spiritual strength, tenacity and faith in a better future for the new Belarus. The letter was signed by representatives of nine political parties and initiatives.

14.01.2013 Solidarity action with Bialiatski in Salihorsk (photo)

Last weekend the civil activists from Salihorsk expressed their solidarity with the imprisoned human rights defender Ales Bialiatski. The action was initiated by the local representatives of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee and the editorial office of the saligorsk.org website.

14.01.2013 Ales Bialiatski wishes to Slonim activists to build the Belarusian home together

On the New Year eve members of the Slonim association of democratic forces sent greeting postcards to all political prisoners. Recently they have received an answer from Ales Bialiatski.

14.01.2013 Police raid LGBT parties

In the night of 12-13 January the police raided an LGBT-party of the human rights project "GayBelarus" in the "21st century" nightclub in Vitsebsk. At about 0.20 a.m. riot police assaulted the club. All participants of the party were lined up facing the wall – males on one side of the corridor, females – on the other.

14.01.2013 Night assault on "European Belarus" activist Yuliya Stsiapanava

At about 1 a.m. on 14 January two unidentified people assaulted an activist of the "European Belarus" Yuliya Stsiapanava. They threw her in snow and cut her hair.