Prosecutor's office refuses to react to a collective appeal on the Milavidy festival
Human rights
activist Siarhei Housha
received a letter signed by the acting
Baranavichy inter-district prosecutor P. Navitski, in which it is
stated that the collective appeal of
citizens in the case of the Milavidy
festival was
returned to the applicants.
Bear
in mind that on 6 August, ten citizens, who
were present near the Milavidy monuments and at the trial concerning
the alleged organization of the Milavidy festival by Viktar Syrytsa,
filed a collective protest against the verdict, hastily issued by
Judge Katsiaryna Hruda, according to which the defendant was
sentenced to pay a fine of 2 million rubles.
As it is stated
in the response of
the prosecutor's office to the initiators
of the collective appeal, they have no right to appeal the verdict of
the Baranavichy City and District Court, as according
part 1 of Article.
12.1 of the Process-Executive Code of
Administrative Violations it can be done only by the persons whose
actions are appealed, or by its legal representative.
“We
agree to it. However, we also took part in the journey to the
Milavidy monument on 2 June and
in the subsequent trials on this case. I would like to point that we
didn't appeal the legality of the verdict, but just asked him to
investigate the case, because, as it was found during the trial, the
Baranavichy District Police Department hadn't implement his errand to
check whether a cultural festival had been held in the village of
Rusino on 2 June, but drew up three violation reports on Viktar
Syrytsa instead of it,” stated Mr. Housha.
He also added
that the authors of the appeal to the Baranavichy Inter-district
Prosecutor's Office would file another letter to the prosecutor in
order to point to other violations of the the law by the local
officials in the case of the Milavidy festival.