30.05.2014 Russian psychiatrists again question findings by Belarusian doctors in case of Maladechna resident
As a result of misunderstanding in 2012, a resident of the town of Maladechna, Alesia Sadouskaya, was taken to the police station, where law enforcement officers reportedly tortured her using so-called “lastochka” position, as her hands were cuffed behind her back and tied to her feet, while the woman was put on the floor with her belly down. After Ms. Sadouskaya threatened to sue the policemen, she herself was accused of an offense and later sent for a psychiatric examination. As a result, a commission composed of psychiatric experts concluded on the need of compulsory treatment.
29.05.2014 Human rights defenders attend conference on Belarus in Geneva
On May 27, Geneva hosted a conference on the human rights situation in Belarus with the participation of international and Belarusian human rights defenders, relatives of political prisoners and the representative of the European Union at the United Nations. The event, which was organized by the Human Rights House Foundation, was meant to precede the presentation of a report of the UN Special Rapporteur on Belarus.
29.05.2014 Over 300 oppositionists got arrested during IIHF World Championship in Minsk
Human rights activists did not know of the most political prisoners. Andrej Tkachou, a 28-year old fitness instructor and event-manager, tells in his blog how spent 15 day in the jail in Akrescina Street in Minsk.
29.05.2014 Accessibility Week 2014: From Accessibility to Equality
A campaign entitled Accessibility Week 2014 will take place in Belarus from 1 to 15 June 2014. The action will include a series of events related to the issues of all kinds of accessibility for people with disabilities. The initiator of the event is the Office for the Rights of People with Disabilities.
29.05.2014 Mikalai Autukhovich not allowed to visit Minsk for medical examination
The police of Vaukavysk forbade the former political prisoner to leave the town for a medical examination.
29.05.2014 Mahiliou police unable to find online slanderers
Valery Karankevich, a civil society activist from the town of Khotsimsk, Mahiliou region, received on May 28 a response to his complaint to the head of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Mahiliou Regional Executive Committee, in which the activist requested to reopen an administrative case in connection with the alleged failure to identify persons who humiliate his honor and dignity in an Internet publication.
29.05.2014 Homel police “lose” items seized during detention of Young Front activists
Activists of the Young Front’s Homel branch have been unable to return their items seized by police during the arrest on February 22, when Andrei Tsianiuta and Stanislau Bula, as well as an activist of a coalition named “Our Alternative” Natallia Kryvashei, were detained by police during a rally in memory of the victims of Kyiv’s Maidan protests.
28.05.2014 Azerbaijani human rights defenders sentenced to long prison terms
A court in Baku has sentenced Anar Mammadli, chairman of EMDS (Election Monitoring and Democracy Studies Center) to 5.5 years of imprisonment. His deputy Bashir Suleymanli was sentenced to 3.5 years and arrested in the courtroom. The head of the Public Association for International Cooperation of Volunteers Elnur Mammadov was given the same term with 2 years on probation.
28.05.2014 Policeman visits opposition activist in Homyel over Ukrainian flag flying over his house
A police officer visited an opposition activist in Homyel at his home on Tuesday, after allegedly receiving complaints from people unhappy that Belarus’ historically national flag and Ukraine’s state flag were flying over his house.
28.05.2014 Minsk authorities ban BPF picket
The Minsk city executive committee has once again banned a picket of solidarity with the Ukrainian people organized by the Belarusian Popular Front. BPF deputy head Ihar Lialkou asked for permission to hold a rally on May 28 at the monument to Taras Shevchenko, BPF’s press-service reports.
28.05.2014 Belsat Journalist Fined for Work
Ales' Zaleuski, author and anchorman of several programs on Belsat TV, was fined by local court for 30 basic amounts under charges “unlawful production and dissemination of mass media products”.
27.05.2014 Famous Czechs join campaign against the death penalty in Belarus (VIDEO)
Karel Schwarzenberg, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic, Oscar-winning screenwriter and actor Zdeněk Svěrák and gymnast, seven-time Olympic champion Věra Čáslavská have signed a petition of the campaign “Human Rights Defenders against the Death Penalty in Belarus”.
27.05.2014 Mahiliou authorities ban picket against eviction of single mother
The authorities of Mahiliou have banned a picket that was expected to attract the attention of officials and local residents to the eviction of Ms. Iryna Ilyinskaya from the dormitory together with her two minor children. The picket was scheduled for June 1, International Children’s Day.
27.05.2014 Information Ministry Issues a Warning to Svobodnye Novosti Plus
The independent newspaper was accused of “inflicting harm to public interests and forming negative attitude to the Ice Hockey World Championship”.
27.05.2014 Homel activist Yury Rubtsou in hospital after 30 days of hunger strike
Opposition activist Yury Rubtsou has been released from the Homel-based detention center. After his release from a detention center in Minsk on May 21, where the activist had served 25 days of arrest imposed as a result of his involvement in the Chernobyl Way demonstration, he immediately returned to his native city of Homel.
