Judge presents a fine to human rights defender Pyotr Ivanov on the 65th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights

Pyotr Ivanov held an action to mark the Human Rights Day, 10 December. He came to the center of Vitsebsk and handed out about 50 copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted 65 years ago by the UN General Assembly.

He also presented copies of the declaration to the personnel of the court, to which he was summonsed that day. Judge of the Pershamaiski District Court of Vitsebsk Natallia Kablina, in her turn, “awarded” him with a fine of 1,950,000 rubles. The fine was given to the activist ffor driving his car with a driver license, issued to him in the Russian Federation.

As stated by the human rights activist, he hoped that the court would be independent, impartial and fair at least once a year. At the beginning of the trial he congratulated its participants on the Human Rights Day.

As said by the human rights activist, groups of policemen started coming to the court room dooring the trial, which evidently distracted the judge from her main work. While considering the case, she also tried to solve a number of other issues with them. A court secretary worked at her computer during the trial, and she also often came in and out, being called by the policemen.

Seeing so clear indifference of the judge to the administrative case, Mr. Ivanou started asking her to create a working atmosphere, concentrate on the case and create no obstacles to giving explanations on it. However, these entreaties had no effect. “After a group of policemen burst into the office, my explanations were interrupted once again. I made a polite statement that I was deprived of opportunities to give explanations to the court in a normal environment and therefore had to leave the court sitting.”

After the end of the hearing, Mr. Ivanov learned that the upheld the fine, issued to him by the head of the inter-district division of the road police of the Main Police Department of the Vitsebsk City Executive Committee, lieutenant coloner Aliaksandr Stsiapanau. He made a record in the complaint book of the court about the contempt of participants of the trial by the court.

Vitsebsk Viasna"