Kalinkavichy activist Dzianis Rabianok to complain to UN Human Rights Committee against unfair justice

Dzianis Rabianok, an activist of the United Civil Party from the town of Kalinkavichy, has been unable to find justice for more than a year and a half. Recently, he received a response to his complaint from the Supreme Court, which upheld the decision of the district court of Kalinkavichy.

Back in April 2013, Dzianis Rabianok was attacked by his neighbor who sprayed pepper gas into the activist’s face. As a result, his eyes were injured. However, the police charged the victim, accusing him of assaulting his neighbor.

In June 2013, the court of Kalinkavichy district found Dzianis Rabianok guilty of violating Article 9.1 of the Administrative Code and punished him by a fine. After complaining to the Regional Court, the District Court’s ruling was quashed and the case was sent for a new trial. The new trial repeated the previous one, as the activist was found guilty again. However, the judge closed the case due to expiry of the term of administrative responsibility.

At the same time, Dzianis Rabianok sought to prosecute the attacker.

Many months of appeals to various authorities ended in a trial of the citizen who attacked the activist (after two complaints to the Regional Court), but the same district court judge Savastsianava acquitted him and closed the case.

Dzianis Rabianok appealed the ruling to the Homel Regional Court, Chairman of the Homel Regional Court and finally to the Supreme Court. The UCP activist recently received a response to his complaint from the Supreme Court, according to which the ruling was considered “reasonable”. It also said that there were “no grounds for revocation of judicial decisions that had been made in this case”.

Dzianis Rabianok himself believes that the reply from the Supreme Court looks like a usual bureaucratic runaround and not a substantive response providing analysis of the arguments stated in the complaint.

“In the complaint I sent to the Supreme Court, I consistently and reasonably laid out all the contradictions and violations of the law that were committed during the trial at the Kalinkavichy District Court. The District Court rejected the testimony of my three witnesses, giving no explanations why it refused to accept them. The Kalinkavichy District Court, and later the Supreme Court, as it looks, divide citizens into first and second class persons,” comments the activist.

“I never believed in a fair trial of the case, but deliberately passed all stages of the system. I am once again convinced that our government does not protect the legitimate rights and interests of citizens, but vice versa – knowingly violates them. I got my eyes damaged (still unknown what it will cause in the future), with a strong allergic reaction I was taken to the hospital and they made me guilty! The person whom I reportedly “brutally beaten” did not even ask for medical help, but got into his car and drove away,” stresses Dzianis Rabianok.

Now Dzianis Rabianok plans to file a complaint with the UN Human Rights Committee to appeal against the violation of his rights under Articles 14 and 26 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Thus, Article 14 of the Covenant states that “everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law”. According to Article 26, all people are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection by the law.