Yury Rubtsou seeks to recover moral damages from judge Palulekh

An appeal of political prisoner Yury Rubtsou against a refusal of Minsk’s Leninski District Court to hear his suit to recover moral damages from Judge Kiryl Palulekh has been appointed for March 26.

The decision was announced on March 6 by Judge Veranika Abramovich. The verdict referred to a lack of jurisdiction.

On the same day, Rubtsou challenged the refusal in the Civil Division of the Minsk City Court. Yury Rubtsou, who is now serving a sentence in an open-type penal facility in the village of Kuplin, Pruzhany district, is trying to recover from Judge Kiryl Palulekh 18 monthly salaries in moral damages.

"The minister of Themis judged me on behalf of the Republic of Belarus at the time when I was naked from the waist up, thus demonstrating disrespect for me as an individual. These actions humiliated my dignity, made me feel humiliated and ashamed in front of the state symbols, namely the coat of arms and the flag, as well as helpless and vulnerable before the arbitrariness and permissiveness of an official dressed in a judicial robe. I was faced with a condition of despair and hopelessness, as I was forced to stand before a court in front of the state symbols striped to the waist,” said Yury Rubtsou.

If the panel of judges turns down the claim, Yury Rubtsou will go through all domestic remedies, and then plans to appeal the verdict of the Belarusian judicial system to the UN Human Rights Committee.

On October 6, Yury Rubtsou was sentenced by the court of the Tsentralny district of Minsk under Art. 391 of the Criminal Code (insult of a judge) to 1 year and 6 months of imprisonment. On December 21, it was reported that opposition activist Yury Rubtsou had been sent to open-type correctional facility No. 7 in the village of Kuplin, Pruzhany district, Brest region.