Union of Belarusian Writers calls for international support of Ales Bialaitski
Dear colleagues!
The Union of Belarusian Writers wants to inform
you that on 24 November the head of the Human Rights Centre "Viasna",
vice-president of FIDH and the UBW member Ales Bialiatski was found
guilty under Part 2 of Art. 243 of the Criminal Code (concealment of
income on a large scale). He also must pay 721 million rubles and 36
million rubles of state tax and damage.
Bialiatski was detained on 4 August by Belarusian authorities.
According to the Department of financial investigation of Committee on
governmental control, Ales Bialiatski has to pay around 150 million
rubles or 29 thousand US dollars at National Bank exchange rate, from
the money transferred to his account in Lithuanian bank. The colleagues
of Bialiatski say that this funds were directed to help the victims of
Belarusian regime. In 2003, license of "Viasna" was cancelled, therefore
the human rights defenders had to look for different ways to continue
their activity.
In October 2011 the international committee on the nomination of
Ales Bialiatski for the Nobel Peace Prize was founded. Among 29 members
of the committee there are the head and founder of Moscow Helsinki
Group, Liudmila Alekseeva, member of the Bundestag Marie-Louise Beck,
former head of the OSCE mission in Minsk Hans-Georg Wieck, chairman of
the BNR Ivonka Survilla, as well as human rights activists from Norway,
USA, Sweden and Amnesty International.
The Union of Belarusian Writers considers the official charge to be a
politically-motivated decision and prosecution for civic activities. We
call for the international support and expanding the information about
Ales Bialaitski’s case among the members of your organization.
Secretariat
Of the Union of Belarusian Writers.
