Prosecutor’s Office issues warning to human rights defender Tamara Siarhei

According to Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus the human rights defender can face up to two years in prison. Mrs. Tamara Siarhei told Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe,

“It visited the Prosecutor’s Office over the case of my complaint, when I was suddenly invited by the department head Viktar Klimau who handed an official warning signed by the Deputy Prosecutor General. The warning said that if I did not stop my activities on behalf of an unregistered organization, a criminal case under Article 193.1 of the Criminal Code would be opened against me.”

On April 19, activists of the initiative “Against Lawlessness in the Courts and Prosecutor’s Office” tried to pass to Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who was then addressing the National Assembly, a petition urging him to consider their complaints, because they had been neglected by officials and judges for many years. Human rights defender Tamara Siarhei was among the protesters. She and 10 more activists were not allowed to the building of the National Assembly by the President’s security service. As a result, the petitioners were forced to leave Independence Square.

“This warning is the price to pay for our intention to meet and talk with Lukashenka, the result of years of efforts of people seeking justice. This is the first stage and the second is the opening of a criminal case against me,” comments Tamara Siarhei.

Government officials and judges have repeatedly ignored letters from most of the activists of the initiative “Against Lawlessness in the Courts and Prosecutor’s Office”. The petition the activists sent to Aliaksandr Lukashenka on April 19 by post was the 39th in a row since the launch of the initiative.