BHC leaders appeal foreign travel ban
Aleh Hulak, chair of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, and the BHC’s chief lawyer Harry Pahaniayla have lodged complaints against the foreign travel restrictions imposed on them by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, the BHC press-service reports.
The human rights defenders were not allowed leaving the country with reference to alleged lawsuits against them.
Travel ban is imposed by a court, who submits the data to the Ministry of Justice. Then the information is sent to the Interior Ministry officials in charge of updating the black list data bank.
However, representatives of the Ministry of Justice say that the BHC leaders are not on the travel ban list.
Moreover, in case a person faces travel restrictions, he or she should be notified by a body who has issued the decision within 24 hours after the ban.
“The travel restrictions have been used solely to sanction my pro-active civil stand, i.e. constitutes discrimination in violation of Art. 22 of the Belarusian Constitution and Art. 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights”, say the appeals.
The Belarusian Helsinki Committee has earlier urged the Prosecutor General’s Office to investigate numerous foreign travel bans used against representatives of the Belarusian civil society.
