Weekly Review of post-election situation in Belarus (6-12 June)
The total sum of fines given to
participants of the Stop Petrol protest exceeds 3 mln Belarusian rubles.
On 12 June the riot police violently dispersed a spontaneous protest action of
drivers at the border crossing point Bruzgi. Human rights defenders
demand that the authorities stop cruel treatment and torture of political
prison Mikita Likhavid. A member of the United Civil Party, businessman Andrei
Bandarenka was acquitted by the Supreme Court after spending two years in jail.
The Belarusian democratic organizations the Belarusian Association of
Journalists, the Human Rights Center Viasna and the Free Theater received
the Freedom Award at the Wroclaw Global Forum held on 9-11 June.
1. Torture and other kinds of cruel and inhuman treatment
The administration of the Navapolatsk penal colony continues pressurizing
21-year-old Mikita Likhavid, sentenced to 3.5 years in jail for participation
in the protest action of 19 December 2010. As it became known on 9 June, he was
put in the penal isolation ward for the third time since his imprisonment. The
same day the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights
Center Viasna issued
a joint statement demanding to
stop the cruel treatment and torture of the political prisoner. The human
rights defenders state that in
the case of M.Likhavid his placement in the punitive isolator cannot be
considered as anything else by an additional instrument of pressure on him by
the Belarusian authorities.
On 10 June Daryia Korsak, wife of the political prisoner Aliaksandr
Atroshchankau, was summonsed to the military procuracy in Minsk for giving
testimony concerning the facts of torture in the KGB prison known to her. She
came to the interrogation together with an independent lawyer Alena Tankachova
who wanted to represent her interests. However, the investigator refused to
interrogate Mrs. Korsak in Tankachova's presence.
2. Prison conditions
The mother and friends of Fiodar Mirzayanau, convicted for participation in
the rally against the rigged presidential election held in central Minsk on 19 December
2010, stopped getting letters from him, though they are sure that he regularly
writes to them. At present Fiodar is kept in the pre-trial prison in Valadarski
Street in Minsk, waiting for the transfer to the penal colony Vouchyia Nory.
The Hrodna resident Ales Kirkevich, convicted for 4 years for participation in
the so-called “mass riot” on 19 December 2010 in Minsk, is still
kept in the pre-trial prison in the same overcrowded and extremely hot cell in
Valadarski Street in Minsk. However, he didn't file an application for a quick
transfer to the penal colony in Navapolatsk. The convict receives letters only
from his wife and mother, though many other residents of Hrodna keep writing to
him. Earlier Mr. Kirkevich didn't receive some of the newspapers he was
subscribed to. Thus, the prison administration continues filtering his
correspondence.
According to Volha Klaskouskaya, sister of
Aliaksandr Klasksouski, convicted in the mass riots case, he was sent to the
penal colony near the town of Shklou on 11 June. As said by her, one more
person involved in the case of so-called “mass riots” in Minsk on 19 December
2010, presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, was convoyed together with
him. Two more persons involved in the case, a presidential candidate Dzmitry
Uss and Dzmitry Bulanau – were to be transported to the colony in Mahiliou the
same day.
Zmitser Dashkevich, the leader of the Yioung Front, sentenced to 2 years
of imprisonment, was transferred from the pre-trial prison in Valadarski Street
in Minsk to the pre-trial prison in the town of Zhodzina. The reasons for
the transfer remain unknown. According to his deputy, Nasta Palazhanka, he will
be transferred to the penal colony in the town of Horki after the consideration
of his cassation appeal by court.
3.
Persecution of human rights defenders
The Ministry of Justice issued the second warning to the
Belarusian Helsinki Committee this year, allegedly because of “continuous
violations of the tax legislation”. The authorities demand that the BHC paid
more than 205 million of rubles in fines and taxes concerning the grants issued
to it by the European Commission in 2002-2003, thought this aid was exempt from
taxes according to international agreements. Moreover, more than 30 public
associations were financed by the European Commission, but taxes were imposed
just on 2 of them. The Ministry of Justice orders the BHC to liquidate its
“debt” within a month's term. The first warning was issued to the organization
12 January 2011 after it had Gabriela Knaul, the UN Special Rapporteur on
independence of judges and lawyers, with statement about pressurization of
counsels, particularly those who defended participants of the 19 December
post-election rally.
4. Freedom of peaceful assemblies
A mass action of protest of car owners against the increase
of the prices on fuels took place in Minsk
on 7 June. Several hundred drivers took part in it. Some participants of the
action (Pavel Hruzdzilovich, Zmitser Kavalhin, Alesia Makas and Aliaksandra
Redzkina) were detained and fined. The total sum of the fines exceeded 3 mln
rubles. During one day the civil community collected as much as 5 mln rubles to
compensate the fines. Nevertheless, persecution of participants of the protest
action continues. The owners of the cars that had taken part in the actions
were identified. The appropriate lists were sent to the district road police
departments of Minsk together with the photos and videos witnessing their
participation in the action. According to Zhanna Traino, chair of the agitation
and propaganda department of the road police, each department will summon the protesters
who are registered on its territory.
On 8 June the police detained several participants of the rally Revolution through social network,
organized by users of the popular social net vkontakte.ru. They were guarded to the
Salihorsk District Police Department, allegedly for “identification, and were
released in an hour. Bear in mind that participants of the action don’t wear
any symbols and don’t chant any slogans at it. The organizers ask people just to
come to the central squares of their towns and cities at 7 p.m. each Wednesdays
and stay there till 7.30. “If thousands of people start coming to the actions,
it will be a signal that more active steps can be taken. But we need to come
out first,” they say.
On 8 June in Mazyr the police interfered with the Revolution
through social network action in Mazyr. They detained people on the
way to the square. 12 participants of the action were guarded to the police
department and released in 90 minutes, after a long “prophylactic talk”. Revolution through social network
gathered more than 400 participants in Minsk
and more than 100 – in Homel.
A spontaneous rally of protest against a new customs fee took
place on 12 June evening at the border crossing point Bruzgi in the
Hrodna region. The action was dispersed by the riot police with the use of tear
gas and police gear. 15 protesters were detained. The matter is that according
to the new customs rules the people who go abroad more often than once in five
days must pay a special fee if they have more than 5 liters of petrol in
their fuel tanks. As a result, many people had to return home. Thus, the number
of the cars returning from the border crossing point started to increase. As a
result there took place a spontaneous rally of dissatisfied drivers. More than
100 people took one another by the hands and overlapped the carriage way,
demanding to abolish the presidential decree banning the export of fuels. The
police violently dispersed the rally with the use of the police gear and tear
gas. 22 people were detained. There are allegations of beating in the paddy
wagons.
5. Persecution
of civil and political activsits
On 3 June the
apartment of an activist of the Movement
Forward Dzmitry Niafiodau was searched by the police headed by investigator
Khamenka. Before this, he was also interrogated concernign the case of arson of
the Palace of Justice in Minsk. Then he was guarded to the Minsk KGB, from
which he was transferred to the Zavadski District Police Department of Minsk.
He spent the weekend at the delinquents’ isolation center in Akrestsin Street
in Minsk. The police charged him under Article 17.1 of the Code of
Administrative Offences, “using obscene language in public” for alleged use of
four-letter words during the search. On 6 June Niafiodau’s case was tried by
Mikalai Balauniou, Judge of the Zavadski District Court of Minsk. The judge
noticed that the alleged time of the offence indicated in the police report
differed from the time of the search. As a result, he returned the case to the
police for revising.
Ivan Stasiuk, a civil activist from Brest, was detained on the
Belarusian-Polish border and guarded to the local KGB department. The
Belarusian border guards took away Ivan’s passport and told him that the
document would be returned to him after a “prophylactic talk”. According to
Stasiuk, the KGB wanted him to stop his activities in the Internet social
networks. They also asked him about his trips to assemblies of the Ukrainian
National Alliance and contacts with Poles and Ukrainians. They also threatened
to pressurize his relatives and misinform his friends and acquaintances about
his cooperation with the KGB.
Mikalai Pakhabau, Chair of the Barysau town organization of the Belarusian
Independent Trade Union of Radio Electronic Industry, was detained twice this
week. On 8 June the road police stopped him near the town of Smaliavichy and
guarded to the police department, where about 100 copies of the Novy Chas newspaper and a trade union
bulletin were confiscated from him. On 10 June the activist was detained again,
though he was driving somebody else’s car. This time the police confiscated 110
copies of the Rabochaya Salidarnasts bulletin.
After the presidential elections 2010 the tax inspections started frequently
checking the business of Dzianis Dashkevich, a coordinator of the organizing
commtitee of the Belarusian Christian Democracy in the town of Rahachou. As a
result, Dzianis is required to pay 1.2 mln rubles as a fine. However, the tax
inspectors hinted that the sum of the fine could be reduced to 400,000 rubles
if he gave up political activism.
6. Freedom of word
In the evening of 5
June security services burst into the apartment of another activist, Siarhei
Pauliukevich. They deleted the community “We are for great Belarus!”, calling
people to take part in the March of
Millions in central Minsk on 15 July and demand resignation of Lukashenka,
from the social network Vkontakte.
There were about 120,000 members in the community.
On 11 June the community Revolution
through social network in Salihorsk was deleted under the KGB pressure. KGB
officers phoned to the organizer of the community and threatened him with
trouble.
The General Procuracy of Belarus didn’t grant the appeal of a Brest entrepreneur
Viktar Chaikouski, Deputy Chair of the civil association Perspective, against the warning issued to him by the Brest Region
Procuracy in May 2011 for alleged violations of Article 369, part 1, “discredit
of the Republic of Belarus”. The answer is signed by the Deputy Prosecutor
General, Mikalai Kuklis. Mr. Chaikouski is convinced of the truthfulness of all
information he voices in the press and on the radio.
7. Language discrimination
The only form with the Belarusian language of instruction was closed down in secondary school #2 in the town of Biaroza after four years of work. The form was established after Aleh Labovich, engineer of one of Biaroza enterprises, spent a year on correspondence with different scientific and educational institutions. 16 parents also signed for the establishment of the form. However, now the administration of the secondary school decided that it was inexpedient to continue teaching children in the first state language of the country.
8. Freedom
of association
The Hrodna Region Court didn't grant the
appeal of the organization founders against the registration denial by the
Hrodna Region Justice Department. The court explained it by referring to the
absence of the description of the procedure of appealing against decisions of
the governing structures of the NGO in its charter.
On 6 June in Minsk
the presentation of the civil web-archive Vytoki took place. It is the
first attempt to create an archive on the history the civil society for the
last 30 years of the Belarusian history. The project is a joint initiative of
the Human Rights Center Viasna, the
Assembly of NGOs and the Supolnasts Center.
9.
Court system
On 9 June representatives of a civil initiatives passed to
the Presidential Administration a collective appeal signed by 111 people whose
relatives fell victims to lawlessness in the Belarusian courts.
On 10 June the Supreme Court of Belarus confirmed the
acquittal of a member of the National Council of the United Civil Party, businessman
Andrei Bandarenka, of charges in theft of property by fraud. The businessman
spent two years in jail on charges in stealing property by fraud, and was
acquitted by the Minsk City Court.
Human Rights Chronicle
