The Human Rights Center “Viasna”

News for September 2013

23.09.2013 Sister of inmate who died in prison appeals detention for memorial rally

Iryna Miranovich, the sister of Ihar Ptsichkin, an inmate of the Minsk-based detention center No. 1 who died under uncertain circumstances while serving an arrest, considers illegal her detention for involvement in a picket staged to commemorate her late brother.

23.09.2013 Homel pro-dem activists demand to institute criminal proceedings for unlawful detention

Homel opposition activist Uladzimir Katsora filed today a statement to the Regional Prosecutor’s Office and head of the internal affairs department of Homel regional executive committee to report on a criminal offense allegedly committed by police officers. In his statement, the politician says that on September 22 traffic police stopped a private minibus with delegates of a national conference for the creation of a coalition "For Honest and Fair Elections for the Sake of a Better Life."

23.09.2013 Minsk City Court orders reinvestigation of charges against National Bolshevik activist

Judge Valery Kamisarau of Minsk City Court ruled today to send the administrative case of Yauhen Kontush, activist of the National Bolshevik movement, for reinvestigation, finding the previous verdict of Minsk’s Tsentralny District Court illegal.

23.09.2013 UN releases Special Rapporteur’s report on Belarus

The General Assembly of the United Nations released the report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Belarus.

23.09.2013 Vasil Parfiankou sent for forced treatment

Former political prisoner Vasil Parfiankou has been placed in medical and labor dispensary No. 1 in the town of Svetlahorsk, after serving five days of arrest in Minsk.

23.09.2013 Brest activist sentenced to four years in prison

Brest District Court re-examined the case of civil society activist Vital Koush and found him guilty of plotting the illegal crossing of the Belarusian-Polish border by the citizens of India.

23.09.2013 Homel police detain members of pro-dem coalition

Eight delegates of the founding congress of a collation called “For Honest and Fair Elections for the Sake of a Better Life” were detained by road police on Saturday on their way to Minsk.

20.09.2013 Pavel Sapelka: “Self-inflicted injuries and hunger strike is the only "peaceful" way to protest in prison"

Mikalai Autukhovich cut his stomach while serving his term in prison in Hrodna, the website of the Platform Innovation human rights NGO said in the morning of September 19. Ej.by contacted Pavel Sapelka, the lawyer who defended Autukhovich during the investigation and the trial.

20.09.2013 Karim Lahidji: The principle of non-interference is a fig leaf covering inaction

The president of the International Federation for Human Rights is convinced that the situations of Iran and Belarus are similar.

20.09.2013 Baranavichy Ukrainian minority NGO sues officials over office

Civil society activist Mikalai Charnavus lodged yesterday a complaint with the Court of Baranavichy district and the city of Baranavichy to challenge the actions by head of the executive committee’s economy department Mrs. Raisa Ulasovich.

19.09.2013 Journalist Andrzej Poczobut to stand trial soon

The journalist’s respite will be over on September 20. He is accused of “slandering the President”.

19.09.2013 Babruisk court turns down claim by trade union activists

Babruisk District Court completed today the consideration of a lawsuit brought by members of the Free Trade Union’s office at the local plant of tractor parts and units (TDiA) against representatives of the administration of the enterprise. It was the third hearing of a claim lodged to demand payments of quarterly bonuses.

19.09.2013 Human rights activists: Makalaj Autukhovich transferred back to cell

A political prisoner Mikalaj Autukhovich, who cut his stomach open with a blade in the prison number 1 (Hrodna), feels allright. A human rights activist Andrej Bandarenka, the head of a private cultural and educational institution Platform Innovation, told BelaPAN about that.

19.09.2013 Mikalai Autukhovich cuts abdomen to protest harassment

Mikalai Autukhovich inflicted a serious bodily injury on himself, the Platform human rights NGO reports, quoting a confidential source in the Hrodna-based prison No. 1. According to the source, Autukhovich cut his abdomen with a razor blade in protest against the ongoing harassment from the prison authorities.