Yury Rubtsou claims recovery of 125 mln roubles as moral damages and and passing it to publishing house “Lohvinau”
Yury Rubtsou. Photo by Radio Liberty’s Belarus service.
A resident of Homel Yury Rubtsou, who is now serving a personal restraint term in the vllage of Kuplin in the Pruzhany district, has sent a petition to the court of the Savetski district of Minsk for the recovery of moral damage. The defendant in the lawsuit is Judge Kiryl Palulekh.
The lawsuit was compiled by the political prisoner with the assistance of human rights activist Leanid Sudalenka.
In his lawsuit Mr. Rubtsou indicates that 28 April 2014 the defendant, the judge of the Soviet district of Minsk Kiryl Palulekh inflicted a substantial moral harm to him while considering an administrative cases against him. In particular, he administered the justice despite the fact that
Yury Rubtsou had been taken to the court stripped to the waist.
"The defendant, Kiryl Palulekh, started judging me on behalf of the Republic of Belarus while I was half naked, thus showing disregard to me as a person brought to the court for consideration of the case. Actions and behavior of the defendant while administering his office duties humiliated my human and civil dignity, making me feel humiliation and shame in front of the state symbols, namely the emblem and flag, as well as helplessness and vulnerability to arbitrariness and and self-will of the official wearing a judicial robe. The defendant put me in the conditions of despair and hopelessness, as I was forced to stand before the court, in front of the state symbols, naked to the waist. Meanwhile, apart from the police I was seen in such a state by the judge, the secretary and the defense lawyer,” points the plaintiff.
He reminds that during the hearing the judge allowed himself such remarks as “Why are you shaking your tits here!”. Thus, the judge humiliated human and civil dignity of Mr. Rubtsou, and undermined confidence that Belarus is a democratic and legal state, an civil rights and freedoms, as well as guarantees of their implementation are the supreme value and purpose of the state.
Yury Rubtsou set these facts forth in his appeal to the Chairman of the Higher Qualification Collegium of the Supreme Court and received an answer dated January 19, 2015, that the terms for initiating a disciplinary action against the defendant were already over. "Thus, the Higher Qualification Collegium of Judges of the Supreme Court does not dispute the verity of the actions of the defendant in performance of official duties, described by me,” concludes the plaintiff.
The political prisoner assessed the size of moral damage as 18 “average” monthly salaries in Belarus, which was 6.9 million rubles on the day when the offense was committed. Thus, the total sum of the claim is 124 mln rubles plus the court fee, paid by Mr. Rubtsou.
“After the enforcement of the court verdict on this civil case I ask to pass the recovered money to the publishing house "Lohvinau", asks the plaintiff.
