The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for November 2013

27.11.2013 Belarusian authorities deny visa to Civil Rights Defenders’ Robert Hårdh

Robert Hårdh, Executive Director of the Swedish human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders, was denied entry to Belarus. The decision was taken on November 5. However, this became known only now, when the human rights defender posted on his Facebook account a photo of his passport stamped by the Belarusian embassy.

26.11.2013 Independent journalists detained in Hlubokaye

Journalists Viachaslau Piashko and Anastasija Reznikava were taken to a police department and interrogated.

26.11.2013 Volha Haidukova: Andrei jailed for nothing, it's most painful thing

The mother of political prisoner Andrei Haidukou hopes her son will be granted early release.

26.11.2013 Slutsk activist complains about disruption of gathering by police

Zinaida Tsimoshak, organizer of the screening of a movie about the Slutsk anti-Bolshevik armed uprising of 1920, was charged with organizing an unsanctioned event. The activist is going to challenge the actions of the police.

26.11.2013 OSCE/ODIHR Director says Ales Bialiatski should be released

WARSAW, 25 November 2013 - Ambassador Janez Lenarčič, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), today reminded the Belarusian authorities of previous calls by OSCE Chairpersons-in-Office for the release of human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, who was found guilty on tax-evasion charges in 2011, and added his voice to theirs, calling Bialiatski’s case a violation of OSCE commitments.

26.11.2013 Pinsk residents expect tougher actions in curbing Nazi propaganda

In the recent months, the residents of Pinsk have repeatedly seen swastikas and Nazi inscriptions appear on the walls of various buildings and in other public places of the town.

26.11.2013 Picket banned for one reason, another one named in court

Dzmitry Lupach (pictured), an activist from the town of Hlybokaye, tried to challenge in court a ban on a picket of solidarity with political prisoners imposed by the district authorities after local restrictions on holding mass events had changed. This was written in an official letter from the executive committee. However, the court suddenly named a different reason for the ban that was recognized as legitimate.

25.11.2013 Opposition activists mark 93rd anniversary of anti-Bolshevik uprising

Several dozen opposition activists took part in a sanctioned rally in Slutsk, Minsk region, on Sunday to mark the anniversary of the 1920 Slutsk anti-Bolshevik uprising.

25.11.2013 Lithuanian Seimas to hold hearings on Belarus

The Lithuanian parliament is to have hearings on Belarus on November 27 ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius.

25.11.2013 Mahiliou Regional Court completely sides with executive power

The Mahiliou Regional Court considered today two complaints filed by human rights activists Barys Bukhel and Aliaksei Kolchyn. In the first case, the court presided over by Judge Sviatlana Stalmakhova dismissed the case on the complaint against Mahiliou city executive committee’s decision to allow the only location in the city for public events.

25.11.2013 Inmates of Mahiliou prison unable to subscribe to newspapers

Mrs. Taisia Kabanchuk, leader of the Babruisk office of the Belarusian Christian Democracy party, says that her friend received back her letter with a check for the subscription sent to Mahiliou prison No. 4.

25.11.2013 Salihorsk: Absence of response to electronic petition appealed to Prosecutor's Office

Representatives of the Salihorsk office of the Belarusian Language Society NGO have not yet received a response to their complaint about violations of the Law "On the Geographical Names of Objects”, which was sent to the local executive committee in late September.

25.11.2013 Baranavichy activist appeals decision on Milavidy Festival

Civil society activist Viktar Syrytsa filed on Saturday a complaint to the chairman of the Brest Regional Court to appeal a ruling by the district and city court of Baranavichy of July 31, 2013 and a ruling of the Brest Regional Court of August 29, 2013 in the case of Milavidy Festival. On July 31, Judge Katsiaryna Hruda found the activist guilty of planning and organizing an unsanctioned rally in the town of Milavidy on June 2 (Part 2 of Art. 23.34 of the Administrative Code) and ruled to sentence him to a fine of 2.6 mln rubles. Judge Natallia Surma of the Brest Regional Court later upheld the decision of the trial court.

25.11.2013 Activist trying to protect Statkevich from censorship

Leanid Haravy, member of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) and an activist of the Movement "For Freedom" from the town of Haradok, wrote a complaint against the administration prison No. 4 in Mahiliou concerning its attempts to restrict Mikalai Statkevich’s rights to correspondence.

25.11.2013 Ales Bialiatski: Two years since politically motivated verdict

Two years ago, on November 24, 2011, the Court of Minsk’s Pershamaiski district convicted Ales Bialiatski, the leader of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" and vice-president of the International Federation for Human Rights. According to the verdict, Ales Bialiatski was found guilty of committing a crime under Part 2 of Art. 243 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion on a large scale) and was sentenced to imprisonment in a high security penal colony for a period of 4.5 years and a confiscation of property.