Human rights defender Barys Bukhel seeks to refute false information

Mahiliou human rights defender Barys Bukhel lodged a claim with head of the Internal Affairs Department of Mahiliou Region Baleika, following a publication on the Department’s website on 8 December 2011, entitled “Everyone, really, has the right to... Or what right does human rights defender Barys Bukhel protect?”

The article questions the reliability of the information provided in the article "Bykhau police forge reports", which earlier appeared on the Internet with a link to the website of the Human Rights Center "Viasna". Policemen accused Barys Bukhel of using unverified information and false facts. The polciemen also argue that Aliaksandr Shachanok, resident of the village of Dabuzha, Bykhau district, who sought the human rights defender’s assistance, was charged with making false statements concerning the police and no one reportedly rigged police reports.

"Correspondence with the police proved the opposite – the police publication is slanderous and defaming my honor and dignity of the human rights defender, as I have been doing human rights work since 1997, and I help people to protect their rights," said Barys Bukhel, “The investigation proved that the administrative case against Aliaksandr Shachanok was trumped up by policeman Vital Vashchyla. The examination of his handwriting, which was held twice, confirmed the fact that the report was not signed by Aliaksandr Shachanok and none of the remarks were made by his hand."

As a result of the investigation, policeman Vital Vashchyla was found guilty of violating the law, he received a reprimand and was deprived of bonuses.

"Together with Aliaksandr Shachanok we continued to correspond with the police for almost a year and ensured that Vashchyla was fired from the police, and his bosses were stripped of bonuses and received severe reprimands. Now we struggle to prosecute the dishonest police officer for forgery of documents," said Barys Bukhel.

The human rights activist believes that the evidence is sufficient to refute the information about him and Aliaksandr Shachanok at the website of the regional police. "We have, by law, every right for this. I want the police to apologize to me and Aliaksandr Shachanok for this story," says the activist.

Barys Bukhel stresses that if the police do not apologize, he and Aliaksandr Shachanok will defend their honor and dignity in court, and the materials for a trial are more than enough.