International legal team for Ales Bialiatski files petition with UN working group on arbitrary detention

The international legal team for the Nobel Peace Prize laureate, political prisoner, and Viasna human rights activist Ales Bialiatski has filed a petition with the UN Working Group on arbitrary detention.

The Working Group adjudicates cases of arbitrary detention and issues legal judgments assessing the compatibility of a state’s detention of an individual and whether it is or is not compliant with its obligations of international law. The group includes five legal experts from different countries. If a person’s detention is determined to be illegal, the Working Group calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

Jared Genser, Bialiatski’s lead pro bono counsel, is author of the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention: Commentary and Guide to Practice. He has taken 50 cases to the Working Group over his career. He has never lost. In commenting on the submission to the Working Group, Genser remarked:

"I am honored to represent Ales Bialiatski, who has fought tirelessly for human rights, democracy, and the protection of civic space in Belarus for decades. His case is emblematic of the fear that Belarus dictator Aliaksandr Lukashenka has of his own people and the systematic way in which he has decapitated every real or imagined threat to his rule. This reign of terror shows Lukashenka’s cowardice and his profound weakness. He is undeniably afraid of his own people. We will not give up until Ales and all the political prisoners are free." 

In a press release, the international legal team for Ales Bialiatski listed the arguments of a legal and political nature:

• Bialiatski was arrested on July 14, 2021, which has been described as “a day of massive, unprecedented raids and detentions against the Belarus human rights community.” Several other members and leaders of Viasna, the human-rights organization that Bialiatski founded and leads, were also detained.

• He was initially accused of tax evasion and remanded to prolonged pretrial detention by a prosecutor rather than a judge – a clear violation of international law.

• Later the tax charges were dropped and he was charged with smuggling and financing group activities that grossly breach public order.

• From the outset, the charges were clearly pre-textual and designed to interfere with his rights to freedom of opinion and expression and association. In complete disregard for the presumption of innocence, state-controlled media and Lukashenka himself publicly declared Bialiatski guilty.

• Bialiatski was held without legal justification for 17 months before being put on trial. In addition, the trial itself was marred by egregious due process abuses.

• For example, approximately 100 witnesses were interviewed during the investigation; however, only a handful appeared at trial. The court excused the rest from appearing in person and simply read their testimony from the investigation into evidence, denying Bialiatski the opportunity for cross-examination.

• Moreover, throughout the trial, Bialiatski was kept in handcuffs and forced to sit in a cage behind metal bars, rather than sitting at a table with his counsel, denying him both access to counsel and the presumption of innocence.

• On March 3, 2023, Bialiatski was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Since his arrest in July 2021, Bialiatski has very limited contact with his family, his counsel, and the outside world.

It is widely recognized that Bialiatski and other Viasna leaders were imprisoned “in retaliation for their human rights work.” Although the prosecution claimed that Viasna improperly used money obtained abroad and illegally continued its activities after being dissolved by the Supreme Court of Belarus, the Working Group previously determined that the use of foreign bank accounts to fund Viasna’s activities was protected under Article 22 of the ICCPR (the right to freedom of association) and that “criminal liability cannot be based on [the] prior government action to deregister and dissolve . . .Viasna,” as that action violated international law.

Legal experts admit that the egregious violations inflicted by the court suffice to demonstrate that Bialiatski was denied his right to an independent and impartial tribunal. They recall that at the time of his trial Judge Maryna Zapasnik had already been sanctioned by the European Union for “for numerous politically motivated rulings against peaceful protesters” and “for the repression of civil society and democratic opposition.” The prosecutor, Aliaksandr Karol, would later be sanctioned by the European Union for “numerous politically-motivated criminal cases against Belarusian human rights defenders . . . including Viasna chairperson Ales Bialiatski.”