UN HR Committee to consider complaint by civil activist Surhan

The UN Human Rights Committee has reportedly accepted for consideration the individual complaint submitted by Belarusian civil society activist Taras Surhan, appealing the violation of his civil rights, after he was detained and fined BYR 175,000 for hanging out a white-red-white flag in Vitsebsk on 16 July 2009.

The activist claims that the court failed to prove that he had actually violated the Belarusian legislation by hanging out a flag. He argues that the authorities violated Article 33 of the Belarusian Constitution (right to freedom of belief) and thus discriminated the activist on political grounds.