Presence of foreign human rights defenders is undesirable at the trial of Bialiatski

In many countries the Belarusian Embassies refuse to issue visas to representatives of human rights and international organizations who want to attend the consideration of the criminal case of Ales Bialiatski, Chairman of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”.

In particular, the Belarusian Embassy in Paris refused to issue a visa to Souhayr Belhassen, President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), saying that her presence was undesirable in Minsk.

The same happened to Marie Månson, program coordinator of the human rights organization “Civil Rights Defenders” (Sweden), the Norwegian human rights defenders Ane Bonde and Daiva Petkevičiūtė, who represent the Human Rights House Foundation, Berit Lindeman, a representative of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee, and Mariana Rocha from Partnership for Human Rights (Belgium).