The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for 26 May 2014

26.05.2014 Young Front co-chair Andrei Tsianiuta expelled from university

Andrei Tsianiuta, co-chair of the Young Front opposition movement, has been expelled from the Frantsysk Skaryna Homel State University. The activist was studying law in his third year, Young Front’s press-service reports.

26.05.2014 National Bolshevik activist Aliaksandr Paliakou fined

On May 26, an administrative case of Aliaksandr Paliakou, an activist of the National Bolshevik movement, was considered in Minsk Tsentralny District Court.

26.05.2014 Viasna welcomes release of colleague Nabeel Rajab in Bahrain!

Nabeel Rajab, President of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights and Deputy Secretary General of FIDH got out of jail on May 24 after being detained for more than 600 days.

26.05.2014 Human rights results of Ice Hockey Championship: Repressive machine shows its power in action

Valiantsin Stefanovich, Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, in his interview for spring96.org, tells about the human rights results of the Ice Hockey World Championship, which was held in Minsk from 9 to 25 May.

26.05.2014 Authorities thwart UCP congress

The party has been denied 15 premises for a congress.

26.05.2014 Former candidate seeks to prosecute election commission chair in Baranavichy

Ex-candidate for the Brest Regional Council Mikalai Charnavus submitted on May 24 a complaint to the chairman of the Regional Court to appeal against an earlier decision of the Baranavichy City Court of March 21, which claimed that the candidate’s case was beyond the court’s jurisdiction and that by the Brest Regional Court of May 5.

26.05.2014 Police seize computer equipment from blogger in Babruisk

As a result of a search, which took place in the apartment of Babruisk blogger Aleh Zhalnou on Friday, the police confiscated computer equipment, for the second time over the last seven months. This time, says the blogger, the police took a hard drive, a flash drive, a laptop, a digital video recorder and several discs.

26.05.2014 Football fan fined over national symbols

Aleh, 24, a resident of Minsk, was detained at Minsk-Arena in the evening of 22 May, where he had come to see a match between Belarus and Sweden. The youth attracted attention by a white-red-white flag painted on his cheek.

26.05.2014 Yury Rubtsou declares hunger strike against fresh arrest

On May 22, the Court of Homel’s Chyhunachny district sentenced opposition activist Yury Rubtsou, who was released after 25 days arrest, to five days of administrative arrest. The activist is expected to be released on May 27. In protest against arbitrary actions by the police and the judiciary Yury Rubtsou has declared a hunger strike.