Brest court upholds verdict to local human rights defender

On 17 November, Brest Regional Court dismissed an appeal by local human rights defender Raman Kisliak against a BYR 350,000 fine for staging a picket of solidarity with the imprisoned Viasna leader Ales Bialiatski on 16 October.

Raman Kisliak was fined despite his claims that the one-man picket did not fall under the Mass Events Act, and later appealed the verdict at a superior court.

The human rights defender is going to address the Supreme Court Chair, as local authorities keep banning nearly all the disloyal mass events, while the courts do not find any legal violations.

“Thus, they violate the Constitutional right of the applicants and potential participants of such events to freedom of expression”, says Mr. Kisliak.