News on the topic: Belarusian Helsinki Committee
15.10.2008 Human rights activists under surveillance
On 13 October in the afternoon officers of Stoubtsy district police department stopped the car driven by the deputy head of Belarusian Helsinki Committee Tatsiana Hatsura. ‘We need to check what you carry in the car,’ said a policeman. Tatsiana had some bags with fiction literature with her.
28.09.2008 Kalinkavichy: Pressurization of observers continues
On 26 September an observer from the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Dzianis Rabianok has been summonsed to Kalinkavichy district procuracy. There he was familiarized with a criminal case under Article 9.10 (violation of the electoral laws) that was brought against him. The formal reason for the case was an ‘application from citizens of Yelsk. Mr. Rabianok was not explained what he was charged with. He lives in Kalinkavichy and is an observer at electoral commission #41.
02.09.2008 Democratic candidates are weeded out
The number of unregistered democratic candidates at the parliamentary election is extremely high, so one can’t say the oncoming election is democratic.
05.08.2008 Homel: KGB interrogates Ales Yauseyenka
As the BelaPAN informs, the investigator Uladzimir Vidolis has interrogated Ales Yauseyenka, the coordinator of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee in Homel oblast, in the case of Minsk blast. The activist was asked where he was on the day of the blast, whether he had a car and in which military unit he had served.
16.07.2008 Vitebsk human rights defender Paval Levinau arrested for 10 days
The arrest verdict was given on May 26th: court found the BHC representative guilty of disorderly conduct. For almost two months Mr. Levinau tried to challenge the verdict. He tried to prove his innocence and the fact that the court violated the law when making the verdict – as it was read out in his absence. According to the human rights activist, Pershamaiski district policemen made numerous attempts to deliver him to the arrest and detention center: they stood on duty near his apartment and followed him around the city. Today Paval Levinau was brought to the police station from hospital. He got into hospital yesterday from the prosecutor’s office, where he had another collision with the police.
14.02.2008 Suit of Belarusian Helsinki to Soviet of Ministers Turned down again
The college board of the Supreme Economic Court confirmed its earlier ruling by which the Belarusian Helsinki Committee against the Soviet of Ministers had been turned down.
11.02.2008 Amnesty International and Belarusian Helsinki Committee Condemn Executions of Convicts in Belarus
On 5 February 5 the Supreme Court of Belarus announced that Siarhei Marozau, the leader of a Homel-based criminal gang, and his close associates, Valery Harbaty and Ihar Danchanka, had been executed by shooting. The three were sentenced to death by shooting in a months-long trial that came to an end on 1 December 2006. The so-called Marozau Gang, which was said to have terrorized the Homel region between 1990 and 2004, was accused of 16 murders.
03.12.2007 Vitsebsk: Picketing Permitted at City’s Outskirts
Recently the chair of Vitsebsk office of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee Pavel Levin has applied to Vitsebsk city executive committee for authorization of a picket. He intended to hold the action on 10 December and dedicate it to the Universal Day of Human Rights.
14.11.2007 Human Rights Activists Demand to Abolish Forced State Assignment of Graduates
This year 65 criminal cases have been brought against the high school graduates who failed to get to the places of work assignment. The present legislation treats such behavior as evasion from duties and demands from the people to pay off the costs that had been already spent by the state for their education. The numbers differ, but in general it is about 3-5 thousand US dollars, the average wage being about 200 dollars.
08.11.2007 Belarusian Helsinki Committee Demands Investigation of Fight at Social March
On 4 November when the Social March demonstration crossed Yakub Kolas and Surhanau Streets in Minsk, a group of young people in black (about 50 persons) separated from the column and put up a fight in the traffic area. Many of them were chanting fascist slogans.
05.10.2007 Supreme Economic Court Turns down BHC Suit
The Supreme Economic Court rejected a complaint of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee against the Soviet of Ministers and the Ministry of Finances. The Soviet of Ministers’ spokesman didn’t appear on the processing of the complaint, RFE/RL reported.
