The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for September 2015

25.09.2015 Lawyer Pavel Sapelka comments on charges against Ales Mikhalevich

On September 20, it was reported that the Investigative Committee refused to drop charges against Ales Mikhalevich, former presidential candidate who returned to Belarus after nearly five years the Czech Republic. The criminal case was opened in December 2010 after his involvement in a peaceful protest in Minsk.

25.09.2015 Suspects in graffiti case: We face six years in prison

According to one of the accused, Maksim Piakarski, the Investigative Committee continues the investigation. Last week he was questioned again. He stated that graffiti makers plead not guilty, Radio Svaboda reports.

25.09.2015 Homieĺ authorities ban anti-election protest

The Homieĺ city executive committee has banned a street protest that was expected to campaign for the boycott of the presidential election scheduled for October 11.

24.09.2015 BAJ releases second monitoring on media coverage of presidential election

The monitoring summarises the findings of the second stage of the monitoring, i.e. between 1 September and 20 September, 2015. According to the schedule of the Central Election Commission (CEC) of Belarus, it was during this time span that the CEC finished checking the voters’ signatures endorsing potential presidential hopefuls; the candidates were formally registered and launched their campaigns.

24.09.2015 Brest activists ask for more accessibility at polling stations

Representatives of the civil initiative Social Office have sent petitions to the territorial election commissions in Brest, asking to improve access for the physically handicapped persons at the city’s polling stations.

24.09.2015 Observers can record audio and video only if election committees allow it

Observers can record audio and video only if election committees allow it, CEC chairperson Lidziya Yarmoshyna replied to the Movement For Freedom.

24.09.2015 Prosecutors ignore expulsion of activist from election commission in Viciebsk

According to Valery Misnikau, he has written to the Viciebsk City Prosecutor's Office to complain of his expulsion from the city’s precinct commission No. 17. He was included in the commission on August 16. However, his name was not among the commission members, he said.

24.09.2015 International human rights activists call on OSCE to condemn persecution of colleagues in Belarus

On October 23, Warsaw hosted an event on the challenges and threats faced by human rights defenders in the OSCE region. The meeting was held within the framework of the OSCE Human Dimension Conference.

24.09.2015 Human Rights Lawyers at Risk

On 23 September, HRHN launched its report Human Rights Lawyers at Risk, detailing systematic violations against lawyers and revealing how governments have departed from their international obligations to provide special guarantees for members of the legal profession. HRHN presented and discussed the report at an event of the OSCE Human Dimension Implementation Meeting in Warsaw.

23.09.2015 Valiantsin Stefanovich: “We all know what elections in Belarus come to”

The European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs held yesterday a hearing on the situation in Belarus, which was attended by Gunnar Wiegand, European External Action Service (EEAS) Director for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, Regional Cooperation and OSCE, and Miklós Haraszti, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus. Valiantsin Stefanovich, deputy chairman of the Human Rights Center "Viasna", highlighted in his speech a number of issues, focusing on the presidential election scheduled for October 11.

23.09.2015 Strict information diet: Why CEC hides its decisions?

The Central Election Commission fails to publish all of its rulings, says Barys Bukhel, a human rights activist in Mahilioŭ. According to him, he first paid attention to the problem during the 2010 presidential election and nothing has changed since then.

23.09.2015 Activist in Viciebsk wins compensation over years of persecution

The Court of Viciebsk’s Kastryčnicki district has ruled to partially grant a claim by local opposition activist Piotr Ivanou. As a result, the government is expected to pay 25 million rubles in moral damages. The initial amount that the activist mentioned in his lawsuit was over 7.5 billion rubles.

22.09.2015 Homieĺ: Students and professors excused from lectures to attend meeting with Lukashenka’s trustee

On September 22, the Homieĺ-Raton free trade zone hosted a meeting with Chairman of the Homieĺ Regional Executive Committee, Uladzimir Dvornik, who spoke as a trustee of presidential candidate Aliaksandr Lukashenka with the rectors, professors and students of local universities.

22.09.2015 Ongoing politically motivated criminal affairs in Belarus should be closed

Ongoing politically motivated criminal affairs in Belarus should be closed. Joint Press release by FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights and Human Rights Center VIASNA

22.09.2015 Mikalai Statkevich fined over illegal picket

The Court of Minsk’s Centraĺny district heard today administrative charges brought against former political prisoner Mikalai Statkevich. He was accused of organizing an unsanctioned mass event, a picket held on September 10 in Minsk.