Homel: trials for “Dziady” (“Forefathers Eve”) action

The member of the United Civil Party Uladzimir Shytsikau received a summons to the Navabelitski District Court of Homel for consideration of the administrative case, according to which the head of the division of public order of the Navabelitski District Police Department of Homel, Lieutenant Colonel Henadz Khilkevich accuses him of violating the order of organizing and holding mass events. The trial is scheduled for 10 December.

“The summons to the court is connected with my participation in the rally in memory of the victims of Stalinist repression, which was held in Homel on 3 November. I, along with other activists, laid flowers and wreaths and lit candles around the memorial crosses that are installed in the place of mass killings of people in the years of Stalinist repression,” said Mr. Shytsikau.

Bear in mind that on 13 November Judge Siarhei Novikau of the Navabelitski District Court of Homel sentenced the deputy chairman of the United Civil Party Vasil Paliakou to a fine of 4.5 million rubles (35 basic units) for taking part in a rally in the memory of the victims of Stalinist repression. The activist appealed against the fine at the Homel Regional Court.

In spring Vasil Paliakou and Uladzimir Shytsikau had been sentenced to pay large fines for laying flowers to the place where the historical figure Paluda Badunova lived. After the completion of all domestic remedies the activists have applied to the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations.