News on the topic: criminal case of Ales Bialiatski
20.10.2011 Bialiatski trial to open 2 November
The trial of Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski is due to start at 10 a.m. 2 November at Minsk Maskouski District Court.
18.10.2011 Stéphane Hessel joins Ales Bialiatski’s Nobel nominating committee
Stéphane Hessel, Honorable President of the Committee of Members of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the last living person involved in editing of the International Declaration of Human Rights, has joined the International organizing committee for the nomination of Ales Bialiatski, leader of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, for the 2012 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in protecting human rights.
13.10.2011 Ales Bialiatski: “The time threw us a challenge. We accepted it"
This is an interview with Aliaksandr Bialiatski prepared for publication for the 15th anniversary of Human Rights Center "Viasna", which is celebrated this year. In this interview, Bialiatski tells not only about the history of the organization, the purpose of its work and his colleagues, but also about his vision of human rights protection in democratic reforms, which will doubtlessly take place in Belarus in the near future.
12.10.2011 Brest authorities “deny” activist in holding procession in support of Ales Bialiatski
On 16 October the Brest human rights defender Raman Kisliak planned to hold a one-man procession on Kasmanauty Strip in Brest in order to draw the public attention to violalion of the right to freedom of the vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski.
11.10.2011 Will investigator of Bialiatski’s case get disciplinary punishment?
Human rights defender Siarhei Ustsinau appealed against the standard refusal to change the restraint to Ales Bialiatski, issued by Tatsiana Kasynkina, an investigator of the Financial Investigations Department of the State Control Committee. The Minsk City Procuracy stated that the investigator had chosen the right restraint.
11.10.2011 Friends and relatives don't receive letters from Ales Bialiatski any more
Ales Bialiatski's friends and relatives stopped receiving any letters from him. In particular, the last letter received by his wife Natallia is dated 20 September. Some of Ales's friends haven't received to three or more letters already.
10.10.2011 Burmese dissident Aung San Suu Kyi expresses solidarity with Ales Bialiatski
Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the world famous dissidents, joined the international campaign for the protection of the Belarusian human rights defender Ales Bialiatski, vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH).
10.10.2011 Minsk procuracy turns down Barys Bukhel's appeal
Mahiliou human rights defender Barys Bukhel appealed against the refusal of investigator Kasynkina to change the restraint to human rights defender Ales Bialiatski who is kept in custody on charges in tax evasion on an especially large scale.
10.10.2011 Actions in support of Ales Bialiatski are still banned in Belarus
On 10 October the Leninski District Court fined human rights defender Viktar Sasonau, who had been detained on 23 august for handing out leaflets with information about the arrest of Ales Bialiatski, chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”. The same day the police held a search at his apartment, confiscated two computer system units, informational and human rights editions and T-shirts with Bialiatski's portraits.
09.10.2011 PACE adopts a declaration on Ales Bialiatski
"Ales Bialiatski, leader of the Human Rights Centre Viasna, was arrested on 4 August 2011 and may face up to seven years imprisonment purportedly for income tax evasion. The severe restrictions on freedom of association in Belarus and the impossibility for independent organisations to register and to receive funds from abroad seriously impeded the work of Viasna and jeopardised its efforts to assist victims of political repression," reads the declaration.
07.10.2011 Statement of Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi in support of Ales Bialiatski
Shirin Ebadi, well-known Iranian human rights activist and lawyer, awarded Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, gave a statement on the case of her Belarusian colleague Ales Bialiatski :
30.09.2011 “Belarusian bars are becoming Justice Ministry’s department”
“Belarusian bars are becoming Justice Ministry’s department”, - say the participants of the International Congress of the European Bars Federation held in Wroclaw in late September, where Belarusian lawyers were represented by Pavel Sapelka, deprived of his license for involvement in politically-motivated criminal cases.
30.09.2011 Prosecutor’s reply: measure of restraint reflects gravity of offence
Homel human rights defenders Anatol Paplauny and Leanid Sudalenka have received a reply from deputy head of Minsk City Prosecutor’s Office Kanstantsin Kezhun, saying that the pre-trial detention of Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski was chosen considering the gravity of the alleged offence.
29.09.2011 Some 200 postcards of support to Ales Bialiatski collected in Warsaw
Some 200 postcards have been collected in a picket of solidarity with Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski outside the Warsaw-based Sofitel Hotel, which hosted the OSCE Human Dimension meeting on 24-28 September.
29.09.2011 Measures for release of political prisoners considered at OSCE conference
On 28 September, Warsaw hosted a side-event “Ales Bialiatski: a symbolic case of the restrictions to political and civil rights in Belarus after the 2010 presidential elections” as part of the OSCE Human Dimension Conference, arranged by a coalition of a number of human rights organizations: the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, the Polish Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, the World Organization against Torture (OMCT), Amnesty International, the Human Rights House Network, Human Rights Watch, Front Line, the International Federation for Human Rights and the Human Rights Center “Viasna”.
