Vice-head of Belarusian Helsinki Committee Is Suspected in Defamation of President

According to RFE/RL

On 30 November the vice-head of Belarusian Helsinki Committee Hary Pahaniayla was summoned to Minsk City Prosecutor’s Office and informed that on 23 November the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus brought a case against him upon article #367 of the Criminal Code (defamation of president of Belarus).

The reason was Hary Pahaniayla’s interview at Swedish TV-4 in which he repeated his suspicions regarding the relation soft the highest officials of Belarus to the political disappearances and mentioned Aliaksandr Lukashenka among them.

Commenting the accusations against him Hary Pahaniayla points at peculiarities of activity of Belarusian authorities: “They were to have done everything to prove their innocence. Instead of it they hide this case and don’t investigate it.”

Hary Pahaniayla said to RFE/RL he was ready to present at court a number of documents witnessing the reasonability of his suspicions.