Minsk court rejects complaint against Prosecutor General’s Office

Minsk Tsentralny District Court dismissed yesterday a complaint lodged by human rights defender Tamara Siarhei against illegal actions of the Prosecutor General’s Office, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Belarus service reports.  

On April 23, Mrs. Siarhei received an official warning from the Prosecutor General's Office. It said that if the human rights defender did not stop her activities on behalf of an unregistered organization, she would face criminal charges under Article 193-1 of the Criminal Code.

"Unfortunately, the court failed to demonstrate that it is the high court, but showed complete agreement with the representative of the Prosecutor's Office. This was evident from the behavior of the Judge. And it’s the worst thing about it. The Judge did not even give me the opportunity to provide full explanations. And he twice denied motions to call witnesses who would testify that they signed collective petitions, as they had their own goals and hoped to solve them together with other citizens. The court refused to grant my motion and demonstrated contempt for us,” said Tamara Siarhei.

On April 19, activists of the initiative against lawlessness in the courts and prosecuting authorities tried to pass to Aliaksandr Lukashenka, who was then addressing the National Assembly, a petition with a request to consider their complaints, as they had been neglected by officials and judges for years. Among the protesters was human rights defender Tamara Siarhei. She and a dozen more activists were not allowed to approach the building of the National Assembly. The protesters were forced to leave Independence Square.

Most of the activists of the initiative face denials of correspondence from officials. The petition the activists sent to the President on April 19 was the 39th since the campaign was launched.