Trial of Ales Bialiatski (updated)
Extraordinary
precautions have been used since 9
a.m. near the building of the Maskouski District Court of
Minsk. Special police forces and several cars of the road police arrived. Private
parking spaces were fenced with protective police tapes. The people who wanted
to attend the trial started gathering at the entrance. At 9.30 a.m. Ales Bialiatski
was guarded to the court.
Journalists without journalist ID’s weren’t let in the court hall. There are
leaders of civil movements and parties and representatives of foreign
diplomatic missions in the court hall. Zmitser Salauyou wasn't let in the court hall before the beginning of the trial because of wearing a T-shirt with the inscription "Freedom to Ales Bialiatski!", and Ina Kulei, Chairperson of the Committee for the Protection
of the Repressed Solidarity, was removed from the court hall because of
wearing such T-shirt.
The judge did not grant the motions of the defense to conduct the trial in the
Belarusian language and change the restraint to Ales
Bialiatski.
***
The consideration of motions is over. Prosecutor Zaikouski reads the charges to
Bialiatski. According to him, Bialiatski violated the Tax Code and evaded from
paying 352,274,000 rubles of taxes. Thus, he inflicted an especially
large-scale loss to the state. The prosecutor calls the numbers of accounts in
the Nordbank (Lithuania) and
Bank Śląski (Poland).
The prosecutor addressed
Bialiatski with the proposal to give sincere answers and stated that it would
be possible to change the restraint to him in this case and release him on
bail, on personal guarantees or as a result of the compensation of the financial
loss inflicted to the state.
1 p.m. a break till 2 p.m. was announced.
Ales Bialiatski tells about the history of the
Human Rights Center “Viasna”. The organization was liquidated and all attempts
to get registered with the state didn’t bring any results. That’s why the human
rights defender opened two accounts – in Poland
and Lithuania,
in order to receive means for human rights activities from international
partners of “Viasna”.
***
Ales Bialiatski personally translates documents and consequently enumerates the
transfers, in which it was stated that money were transferred to his account
for “Viasna” and for concrete projects, in particular – for a mission to
Kazakhstan, for a human rights conference and the publication of a brochure
about elections in Belarus.
***
Bialiatski made a statement: “I was the owner of the account, but the money was
spent on activities of “Viasna” and our partners in Belarus. I didn’t use these means
for my own purposes – appropriate agreements were composed for their usage. Samples
of such agreements are present at KGB. Apart from them, there existed other
documents. I wasn’t the owner of the money, but an intermediate link. These
means concerned the work of regional public reception rooms of the Human Rights
Center “Viasna” and were
passed to victims of political repressions. Reports about the use of the money for
tickets, the publication of bulletins and support to victims of political
repressions were submitted to our international partners. Moreover, not all of
this money was spent in Belarus,
a part of them was spent abroad, on printed production and education. I don’t
see any profit received by me from this money. Personally I didn’t bring it to Belarus.” (RFE/RL)
***
The lawyer asked the court to request the acts of customs examination of Ales
Bialiatski and the acts of the tax inspection concerning Bialiatski’s income
and assets for 200-2010. The prosecutor didn’t object. The judge satisfied the
motions.
***
The Ambassador of Poland,
Leszek Szerepka, came to the trial, as Poland not only perceives the
evident political motivation of the trial, but also feels personal guilt for
Ales Bialiatski.
“Being representatives of the European Union, we have always tried to
participate in all politically motivated trials. I think that this trial is of
such a kind. We can see many representatives of different diplomatic missions
there. We also have personal responsibility, as partially we are to blame that
Mr. Bialiatski is kept in jail. The Belarusian side abused our trust, as the
law which we had signed was aimed at combating hard crimes, whereas here it is
used to imprison a human rights defender. We think that the imprisonment of a
human rights activist is unacceptable,” reports Radio “Racyja”.
The judge announced a break in the hearings till 10 a.m. on 3 November.