The procurator’s office of the capital closed the criminal case against the famous human rights activist, the deputy chair of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Hary Pahaniaila

The procurator’s office of the capital closed the criminal case against the famous human rights activist, the deputy chair of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Hary Pahaniaila, who was suspected of libeling the president of Belarus and high ranking officials. This is the information provided to the human rights activist by the Minsk Procurator's Office. They acknowledged that they had not found any crime in what Mr. Pahaniaila had done.
The libel charges were level at Hary Pahaniaila in November 2004. Several days before he gave an interview to the Swedish TV journalists, where he brought to attention the fact that due to the influence of the officials from the inner circle of Aliaxandr Lukashenka, the investigation into the criminal cases of the disappearance of the opposition politicians had in effect been protracted. As a result, Hary Pahaniaila himself was accused of having allegedly committed a crime. He was threatened a five year term in prison.
“My actions did not constitute a crime. Nowhere and never did I call the names - I only voiced my suspicions. I motivated my suspicions by quoting information from open sources and information provided by the investigators and courts. This information was received by me, as a defender of those who fell victim to the disappearance, so my professional activities cannot be treated as libel, said Hary Pahaniaila in an interview with Radio Liberty.