04.04.2008 ‘Trial of 14’ to start 16 April
16 April at 10 a.m. the Tsentralny district court of Minsk (Kirau Street 21) will try the ‘criminal case of 14’. http://nn.by was informed about it by Andrei Kim’s lawyer Tamara Sidarenka.
28.03.2008 International human rights organizations condemn the arrests and brutal attacks by riot police of peaceful demonstrators in Minsk
Statement: The Human Rights House Foundation, the Rafto Foundation, Norwegian PEN, the Norwegian Helsinki Committee and The Norwegian Union of Journalist condemn the arrests and brutal attacks by riot police of peaceful demonstrators in Minsk.
28.03.2008 Katsiaryna Salauyova – another victim of the Belarusian regime
statement of the Human Rights Center "Viasna"
27.03.2008 On March 25th Belarusian authorities demonstrated their attitude to human rights
Viasna's statement about the events on March 25th
26.03.2008 Trials over detained activists continue (updated)
Minsk courts are busy with trials over the activists detained during the peaceful rally yesterday. The rally was to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian Democratic Republic 1. Adamovich (Zavodski court, fined 30 basic units, judge Alena Laptseva) 2. Afnahel, Yauhen (Savetski police department severely beaten, Savetski court, judge Aksana Reliava, 10 days of jail) 3. Akimau, Vital (Savetski police department, Savetski court, 15 days of jail)
25.03.2008 Detained during Freedom Day action (list updated regularly)
According to preliminary information, the following people were detained during peaceful celebration of the 90th anniversary of Belarusian Democratic Republic:
24.03.2008 Katsiaryna Salauyova to be tried on March 27th
The trial over youth activist Katsiaryna Salauyova will start in Polatsak on March 27th, 3 p.m.
17.03.2008 Khashchavatski’s Ploshcha to be shown on TV on March 20
The satellite TV channel Arcoiris TV is going to show Iury Khashchavatski’s political documentary Ploshcha on March 20.
12.03.2008 Use of Punitive Psychiatry Continues: Aliaksandr Kruty Detained and Placed in Psychiatric Hospital
On 3 March Aliaksandr Kruty came to a polyclinic to get registered there. He was met by the policemen, who forcedly took him to the Navinki psychiatric hospital in Minsk.
07.03.2008 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in February 2008
In February Belarusian human rights defenders paid most attention to political prisoners and politically motivated criminal cases. The main event this month was the abolishment of the politically motivated verdicts to the youth activist Artur Finkevich and the journalist Alexander Zdvizhkou, as a result of which both were released from jail. The authorities also granted parole to the entrepreneurs Mikalai Autukhovich and Yury Liavonau and the oppositional politician Andrei Klimau. However, despite the demands of the EU and the US the former candidate to president of Belarus Alexander Kazulin remained behind bars. He was proposed release from jail in exchange for emigration to Germany and cessation of political activities. In addition, the authorities demonstrated an exceptional violence in relation to Kazulin’s family. His wife Iryna died of cancer and the authorities didn’t let him go to the funeral for two days. It cannot but be considered as a violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, ratified by Belarus.
27.02.2008 Criminal persecution of protest action participants continues
At present moment the following activists are suspected:
1. Mikhas Pashkevich 2. Tatsiana Tsishkevich 3. Mikhas Subach 4. Ales Charnyshou 5. Ales Straltsou 6. Paval Vinahradau 7. Aliaksei Bondar 8. Aliaksandr Barazenka 9. Maksim Dashuk 10. Uladzimir Siarheyeu 11. Mikhas Kryvau
26.02.2008 Navumau’s threat to launch 50 criminal cases against action participants slowly coming true
he human rights center “Viasna” found out, investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs started interrogating suspects on the criminal case under Article 342 of the Criminal Code “organization or active participation in group actions that seriously violate the public order”. The criminal case was instigated after the rally and march of entrepreneurs that took place on January 10th in Minsk. According to our information, 12 people are suspected. Today three of the suspected – Uladzimir Siarheyeu, Ales Straltsou, and Mikhas Kryvau -- were summoned to investigation department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for interrogation.
19.02.2008 FIDH and Viasna: Open Letter to Belarusian Authorities on Harassment against Zhaleznichenka
Minsk-Paris, 15 February 2008 – The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Human Rights Center “Viasna” express their deep concern about the Belarusian authorities’ repeated harassment against the youth activist Dmitry Zheleznichenko.
09.02.2008 Review-Chronicle of Human Rights Violations in Belarus in January 2008
This time the beginning of the year was warmer than usual. The total crackdown of Belarusian authorities on the social and economic spheres of life increased the mood of protest, which resulted in aggravated repressions against the most active protesters. Despite the fact that January events were a planned continuation of the December entrepreneurs’ meeting, authorities were not ready for the decisive attempts of the entrepreneurs to protect their right to work. Presidential decree #760 of 29 December 2006, by which the entrepreneurs were deprived of the right to employ any workers except for three close relatives from January 2008, made many workers of small business redundant. It also affected ordinary citizens – the markets became empty, many stalls were closed, route taxis to markets started driving more rarely, etc. All efforts of the leaders of the entrepreneurs’ movement to establish a dialogue with authorities yielded no result – witnessing that high-rank officials decided to liquidate individual entrepreneurs as an unnecessary social class. Desperate entrepreneurs had nothing to do but go out in the streets.
05.02.2008 Ales Bialiatski: ‘One can speak of normalization of relations between the authorities and their political opponents only after the release of all political prisoners!’
On 5 February the college board of Mahiliou oblast court considered the cassation complaint on a criminal case against Artur Finkevich and reversed the verdict of Kastrychnitski district court of Mahiliou, according to which Finkevich was to have serve 1,5 years of jail for ‘evasion from serving his corrective labor term’.
