The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

22.04.2013 More interrogations of Freedom Day protesters in Slonim

Slonim district police department has summoned and questioned two more people for taking part in the Freedom Day celebrations on 25 March. Police Major Ihar Klybik questioned Viktar Marchyk and Albert Hlinnik, telling them “not to engage in this nonsense anymore.” The activists refused to provide any written explanations.

22.04.2013 Opposition parties, NGOs announce establishment of Belarusian Environmental Committee

A number of opposition parties and NGOs announced on Friday the establishment of what they called the Belarusian Environmental Committee.

22.04.2013 KGB refuses to return belongings of political prisoner Dziadok to his family

Relatives of Mikalai Dziadok cannot receive his computer back. The wife of the political prisoner, Valeria Khotsina, told it Radio Svaboda.

22.04.2013 Political prisoners’ wives meet Poland’s First Lady

Hanna Komorowska, the wife of Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, expressed her solidarity with Belarusian political prisoners by meeting with the wives of three of them, Maryna Adamovich, Nasta Dashkevich and Natallia Pinchuk, at the Belweder Palace in Warsaw.

22.04.2013 Aleh Volchak files complaint to UN Human Rights Committee

The complaint concerns two short jail terms the human rights defender had to serve in 2012 in the Center for Isolation of Offenders at 36 Akrestsin Street, www.protivpytok.org reports.

22.04.2013 BPF Vitsebsk leader summoned to police ahead of Chernobyl Way

Leanid Autukhou says preventive measures may be used against him ahead of the Chernobyl Way demonstration. The Chairman of the Vitsebsk Regional branch of Belarusian Popular Front does not exclude that such a step will be taken by law enforcement officials, Radio Racyja reports.

22.04.2013 Young Front activist appeals violations by Salihorsk court to Ministry of Justice

The Young Front member Andrei Tychyna sent to the Ministry of Justice a complaint against the delay in issuing a ruling by Salihorsk District Court.

19.04.2013 Informal coalition of minorities created in Belarus

The coalition is not shaped by specific agreements, but by a number of organizations and communities that integrate minorities, from people with disabilities to the representatives of different sexual orientations, who are working together to develop a draft anti-discrimination law, Radio Racyja reports.

19.04.2013 Detained journalists released from police department

BelaPAN camera man Syarhei Satsyuk was released at about 1 p.m. Radio Liberty correspondent was free an hour later.

19.04.2013 Are there any threats for sellers and owners of “Belarus Press Photo 2011” album?

On April 17, Yulia Darashkevich received a phone call from the “Book Salon” located in Kalinin Street in Minsk with a request to pick up the rest of the copies of the album they had not sold. The journalist reported this through her Facebook page. On April 18, the NGO “Belarusian Association of Journalists” contacted the bookshop to find out that the store was not going to sell any more of these books, despite the fact that at the time the court had not even announced its decision.

19.04.2013 Journalists detained in Minsk

Aleh Hruzdzilovich, journalist of Radio Liberty/Radio Free Europe’s Belarus service, and Siarhei Satsiuk, cameraman of the BelaPAN news agency, were detained this morning while covering a protest staged by a public initiative “Against Lawlessness in the Courts and the Prosecutor’s Office” in Minsk’s Independence Square, outside the House of Government building where President Lukashenka is expected to address the Parliament today, RFE/RL reports.

19.04.2013 BAJ Objects to Ashmiany Court Verdict on ‘Extremism’ in ‘Press Photo Belarus 2011’ Photo Album

The Belarusian Association of Journalists has sharply objected to the decision of Ashmiany District Court on recognizing the ‘Press Photo Belarus 2011’ photo album as an extremist material.

18.04.2013 Homel human rights defender seeks compensation over failure to implement UN HR Committee decisions

Human rights defender Leanid Sudalenka filed a lawsuit to the Tsentralny District Court of Homel against the Ministry of Finance demanding compensation for moral damages due to the failure of the authorities to implement the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee. He estimates the moral damage at the amount of the salary of a Member of Parliament within four years of office.

18.04.2013 Slonim: Freedom Day participants questioned by police

Slonim police questioned today UCP activists, brothers Siarhei and Andrei Bialkos. They were summoned to the district police department over their involvement in the celebration of Freedom Day, 25 March.

18.04.2013 Ashmiany court: album “Belarus Press Photo 2011” contains extremist materials

Ashmiany District Court ruled today in a lawsuit brought by the KGB’s Hrodna regional department and found the album “Belarus Press Photo 2011” an extremist edition. As a result of a two-day trial, the 41 copies of the publication earlier confiscated by the customs officials were ordered to be destroyed.