The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

On 8 May Siarhei Koneu, Judge of the Mahiliou Regional Court, turned down the appeal of civil activist against the verdict of the Leninski District Court of Mahiliou, according to which he had been sentenced to a fine for distributing the unregistered newspaper “Tut i Tsiaper” without a special distribution agreement.

The editor of the private socio-political newspaper “Babruiski Kur’yer” Anatol Sanatsenka received an official answer to his appeal, signed by the deputy head of the Babruisk tax inspection Yury Tarabuyeu.

On 27 April, the police of the town of Biarozauka, Lida district, Hrodna region, detained local activists of the Belarusian Popular Front Party and For Freedom movement Siarhei Trafimchyk and Vitold Ashurak, and seized 800 copies of the Novy Chas independent newspaper.

Uladzimir Tryvaila, Prosecutor of Krychau district (Mahiliou region), has repeatedly ignored appeals by journalists of the Volny Horad independent newspaper, who have been requesting information on combating corruption and organized criminal activity.

Vitsebsk police attempted to prevent Russian journalists from interviewing the mother of Uladzislau Kavaliou, executed in March on charges of plotting a terrorist attack in Minsk underground back in April 2011.

Vitsebsk police has reportedly detained local distributor of the “Nash Dom Info” independent newspaper Siarhei Soupel, as he was leaving his house this morning.

On 11 April an activist of the Belarusian Popular Front Siarhei Niahatsin received a telephone call from the police, who proposed him to come to the police department and take back the newspapers which had been confiscated from him about a month ago, while he had been distributing them at a market.

On 5 April the editor of the "Babruiski Kur'yer" newspaper Anatol Sanatsenka was summonsed to tax inspector Halina Tanvirava, allegedly to talk about the fate of the open stock company "Raklamny Kur'yer", owned by him.