Gabriela Knaul, UN Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, was informed about persecution of counsel Sapelka
On 4 March a new report
of harassment of lawyers in Belarus
was submitted to Gabriela Knaul, the UN Special Rapporteur on the independence
of judges and lawyers.
Belarusian human rights
organizations and human rights groups informed her about the renewal of
pressure on the lawyer's society in the Republic
of Belarus, which threatens the
institution of the Bar of the Republic
of Belarus. On 4 March
2011 it became known that the lawyer of the Minsk City Bar Association Pavel
Sapelka was expelled from it by decision of the Presidium of the Minsk City Bar
on the initiative of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus.
The Special Rapporteur is informed that:
"Pavel Sapelka had been a counsel of the legal advice
office No.2 of the Savetski district of Minsk (Minsk, Melezh Street, 4) since
1994 (License No. 1314 of 13 July 2005) and was a member of the Minsk City Bar.
Sapelka represented interests of the former presidential candidate Andrei
Sannikau, who is accused of organizing riots on December 19, 2010 at the
Independence Square in Minsk and is currently held in the KGB jail; the head of
the election headquarters of presidential candidate Vital Rymasheuski Pavel
Seviarynets, who is also in the KGB jail, and the leader of an international
youth organization Young Front
Dzmitry Dashkevich.
On 3 March 2011 a prescription of the Ministry of
Justice concerning Pavel Sapelka was considered at a sitting of the Minsk City Bar
Association, Mr. Sapelka was expelled from the Minsk City Bar Association on
decision of its Presidium. In accordance with the Law of the Republic of Belarus
On Legal Profession (Article 19,
paragraph 3), the expulsion of Pavel from the bar association means that he
will no longer be able to engage in advocacy. In accordance with Belarusian
legislation, legal practice can only be conducted by members of the bar
association.
Earlier, on 4 January 2011, Board of the Ministry
of Justice reviewed the activities of lawyers who defended the accused in the
case of the mass riots of 19-20 December 2010. Thus,
the press service of the Ministry of Justice stated that Pavel Sapelka ‘made
inappropriate statements concerning the Bar as an independent legal
institution, expressed doubt concerning the legality of actions of the Ministry
of Justice as the state licensing authority, stating that it was “pressure on
the activities of government lawyers on the part of the state". In
this regard, the Ministry of Justice submitted to the Minsk City Bar
Association a proposal to use administrative punishment towards Pavel Sapelka and
consider the question of the expediency of his further stay in the Presidium of
the Minsk City Bar Association. The administration of the Minsk City Bar
Association didn’t find any violations in the actions of their colleague at
that time.
The human rights community of the Republic
of Belarus expresses its concern about
the situation, acts of intimidation and deprivation of attorney licenses in the
Republic of Belarus,
which can jeopardize the independence of the legal community in Belarus and threaten
with submission of lawyers to the Ministry of Justice.
We ask you to respond to this email as soon as possible and take all possible actions within the framework of your mandate.
Alena Tankachova, the Foundation for Legal Technologies Development
Volha Smalianka, the Center for Legal
Transformation
Raisa Mikhailouskaya, the Center for Human
Rights
Tatsiana Raviaka, the Belarusian Human
Rights House
Ina Kulei, the Committee to Protect the
Repressed Solidarity
Ales Bialiatski, the Human Rights Center Viasna
