Mahiliou trade union activist fails to protect honor and dignity in court

Judge Halina Kuzhaleva of Mahiliou Leninski District Court dismissed a lawsuit on Friday brought by Aliaksei Paulouski, activist of the independent trade union of the radio and electronic Industry, who accused member of the House of Representatives and Prosecutor of Mahiliou region Eduard Siankevich of disseminating information that could discredit the activist’s honor and reputation.

Aliaksei Paulouski was seeking BYR 10 mln. in damages, claiming that the high official’s statement of the activist’s unemployment made during the TV election debates was aimed at undermining his reputation among the voters. “Indeed, I am unemployed, but this is only because nobody wants to employ me. They have created extremely unfavorable conditions, so that I haven’t been able to find a job for quite a time. That’s because I always try to protect employee’s rights when I witness injustice and labor discrimination,” says Mr. Paulouski.

The Prosecutor himself did not appear in court, submitting his written arguments instead. As a result, the Judge said there was no false data disseminated, as it was merely a TV debate.

Apart from that, the trade union activist argued that the Prosecutor lied when denying the fact of a collapsed wall at the construction site of an IKEA factory in Mahiliou. Meanwhile, Aliaksei Paulouski possessed photo evidence of the incident.