Human rights activist demands respect for Constitution from Constitutional Court

Minsk businessman Siarhei Ustsinau addressed the Constitutional Court with a demand to respect the Belarusian Constitution by delivering a judgment on the equality of imprisoned persons to receive parcels and packages.

The Procedural Executive Code for Civil Offences (in force since 2007) prohibits receiving food parcels by persons under civil arrest, thus gravely deteriorating their legal status, as compared with the persons convicted under criminal procedures.

‘An offence differs from a crime by having less dangerous consequences and punished by lesser penalty; therefore it is not right when the penalty is executed under worse conditions than those in the case of criminal convicts. Article 22 of the Constitution guarantees the equality of all the citizens, including persons convicted under both civil and criminal proceedings. Since its entry into force, the Code has been amended for over 20 times: prisoners convicted under civil proceedings can now be put in a punishment cell for breaking inner discipline regulations, but the issue of food parcels is still unattended by the legislators,’ says the petitioner.