The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for February 2015

16.02.2015 Survey Shows Information Ministry Is the Most Closed State Body

BAJ held a survey among its members asking to evaluate the work of press services of state agencies and the degree of their openness to the public.

16.02.2015 Viasna activists meet with representatives of Norwegian PEN Center (video)

On 16 February, William Nygaard, President of the Norwegian PEN Center, and writer Erling Kitelsen visited the office of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, where they discussed the human rights situation in Belarus with Viasna leaders.

16.02.2015 Ales Bialiatski: I brought home 40,000 letters from prison

A meeting with head of Viasna human rights centre Ales Bialiatski and a presentation of his book Mercuric Silver of Life were held in Brest. The former political prisoner wrote the book in prison. Ales Bialiatski was released after his book had been published. About 30 people came to the event, Radio Svaboda reports.

16.02.2015 Court in Minsk rejects suit against illegal border searches

Judge Irena Brolishs of the Leninski District Court of Minsk has dismissed a lawsuit by deputy chairman of the United Civil Party (UCP) Vasil Paliakou, who asked to open a criminal case against the State Border Committee, whose employees several times detained and searched the politician at the. The United Civil Party deputy chairman has appealed the denial to the Civil Division of the Minsk City Court.

16.02.2015 Journalist keeps seeking accreditation in Mahiliou Regional Council of Deputies

Uladzimir Laptsevich, a correspondent for the BelaPAN news agency, has sent another petition to the chairman of the Mahiliou Regional Council Anatol Isachenka. In his address, the journalist asks to specify a particular item of a specific regulatory or legislative act, according to which journalists are obliged to apply for attending the public sessions of the Mahiliou Regional Council of Deputies.

16.02.2015 Activist acquitted on obscenity charges in Salihorsk

Local human rights activists found out new details of the case of a European Belarus activist Uladzimir Lemesh. Earlier, the Salihorsk District Court found him guilty under Article 17.1 of the Administrative Code and fined the activist two basic units, but during a retrial in January the case was dismissed “for lack of proofs”.

16.02.2015 Journalist faces obstacles in covering exhibition in Hrodna

On 13 February, journalist Andrei Mialeshka was not allowed to record the opening of an exhibition entitled “Museum of Chocolate” at the local history and archaeology museum, after an order from first deputy head of ideology of the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee Aliaksandr Viarsotski.

16.02.2015 Pavel Sapelka: I’ve always been alarmed by outstanding achievements of justice statistics

Summing up the results of 2014, Chairman of the Supreme Court Valiantsin Sukala and Deputy Chairman Valery Kalinkovich said during a meeting of the Presidium of the Supreme Court on 11 February that the legal and judicial reforms currently enforced in the country yielded positive results, and the chosen strategy and model of the national justice were correct.

16.02.2015 Campaign in support of political prisoner Yauhen Vaskovich launched in Minsk

On Monday, 16 February, the Day of Solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners, all concerned citizens are invited to the Minsk-based office of the electronic industry trade union, to sign greeting cards for political prisoner Yauhen Vaskovich.

16.02.2015 Human rights activist writes to Prosecutor’s Office to challenge penalties for photo session

Vitsebsk civil society activists continuing their struggle for the right to be photographed in the streets of the city: human rights activist Pavel Levinau has written a complaint to the Prosecutor’s Office about the penalties for a photo shoot on a background of graffiti, after the executive committee sent him a written reply that the photo shoot was not a mass event.

16.02.2015 Mikalai Statkevich reports limited access to information

Political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich, the only candidate in the presidential election of 2010 still held in prison, has sent a letter to journalist Barys Vyrvich, which he received on 13 February. The letter was written by Mikalai Statkevich on 7 February.

15.02.2015 Mahiliou region: lack of police inspectors, employment problems, corruption

Prosecutor of the Mahiliou region, Andrei Chadziuk, gave a large interview to the newspaper "Mahiliouskiya Vedamastsi" (№11 dated February 10, 2015) in which he spoke about the statistics and ways of improvement of the crime situation in the area.

13.02.2015 Trade union activists itnend to hold pickets against Decree No. 5

BCDTU has applied to Minsk City Executive Committee to obtain a permission for holding a picket in Minsk on February 21 with the aim to protest against the entry into legal force of Presidential Decree No. 5 "On strengthening the requirements for managers and employees of organizations".

13.02.2015 Office of Prosecutor General forwards complaint about impossibility to learn in Belarusian to Ministry of Education

The parents of the pupils of the former Belarusian-language form in Baranavichy Tatsiana and Aleh Malashchanka and Antanina and Vasil Filipchyk received a letter from the Office of the Prosecutor General of Belarus, signed by a senior prosecutor Department for Supervision of the rights and freedoms of citizens V. Kukso.

13.02.2015 Appeal of distributor of “Vitebsk Kuryer” registered at UN Human Rights Committee

The appeal of Mikhail Zhurauliou, filed under the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, was registered under the number 2495/2014. The official note about it was received by human rights activist Pavel Levinau, who assisted in drawing the appeal.