The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

On12 April the Minsk City Court considers the appeal of the imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski against the verdict of the Pershamaiski District Court of Minsk according to which he was sentenced to pay 140 million rubles of fine for an untimely payment of taxes.

At about 6.30 p.m. officers of the Mahiliou City Road Police Department stopped the car of the coordinator of the “Speak the Truth!” civil initiative in the Mahiliou region Aksana Samuilava. The alleged reason was that she hadn't let a passer-by cross the street at a pedestrian crossing.

Retired colonel of the Salihorsk police Viktar Malochka continues appealing against his arbitrary detentions during the last year's silent protest actions in Salihorsk.

The politician writes cheerful letters, says he is ready to anything and is not going to change his views.

On 11 July Hrodna activists of the Belarusian Leftist Party “Fair World” Viktar Mikhalchyk and Pavel Staneuski were carrying copies of the bulletin “For Free Elections” in their car. On the territory of the Dziarzhynsk district their car was overtaken by a road police patrol.

During the previous parliamentary elections a member of the National Party of Labor and Justice Yury Zhurau didn't come to any sittings of the constituency election commission despite being its member. However, he has been included in the commission during the present election campaign, too.

Events in June clearly demonstrated that Belarusian authorities considered human rights issues only in the dimension of political relations with the EU and other countries of Europe. The focus of these relations was still on the problem of political prisoners. Due to the complete lack of political will for the release of political prisoners by Belarusian authorities, the EU announced the possibility of extending the list of the state officials of Belarus falling under its sanctions. This was announced on 18 June in Brussels by Gunnar Wiegand, Director of the European External Action Service Department for Russia, Eastern Partnership, Central Asia, regional cooperation and OSCE.

DUBLIN, 12 July 2012 – The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affaires Eamon Gilmore, expressed his strong regret about the Belarusian authorities’ decision to prevent a Belarusian civil society activist from travelling to an OSCE meeting in Vienna today.