Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was convicted of inciting the intentional disclosure of certain information which constitutes an official secret by a person who has (had) access to the data; unlawful acquisition with a view to sell and selling special technical means designed for obtaining secret information; unlawful acquisition with a view to sell and selling special technical means designed for obtaining secret information, committed repeatedly; bribery; bribery committed repeatedly.
The details of the criminal case against Mikhail Zhamchuzny have been completely closed at the stage of investigation, his lawyer refused to contact anyone, because he signed a nondisclosure agreement. The trial was held behind closed doors. The human rights defender Taciana Reviaka speaks on this non-transparent case, as well as why Mikhail Zhamchuzhny is recognized as a political prisoner:
Suspicious case
– The case seemed very strange to us for a long time. We have learned about Mikhail Zhamchuzhny only after his arrest, – says human rights defender. – Our colleagues in Vitsebsk also did not know him and could not tell us anything particular on the reasons for the arrest. I have been corresponding with Mikhail for almost a year, but the letters contained limited information, and often it was absolutely unclear what the person wrote.
Of course, the arrest of the founder of the human rights organization has immediately attracted our attention, and we took a lot of steps to get at least some information on his case. For a long time, these steps did not bring any success, but only the fact of the arrest of Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was not a sufficient reason to say that the person is prosecuted for his human rights activities. We still needed to know what really happened.
We judge from the fact that the oppositional nature of political or human rights activities is not a sufficient basis to recognize a person as a political prisoner, even in the case of deprivation of liberty. It is not important whether this person is a politician from opposition, a human rights defender, a journalist or other public figure. What matters is the action he or she is accused of, the motives for such actions and how the authorities acted in this case.
The trial of Mikhail Zhamchuzhny also do not add any clarity, as it had closed character. I only managed to get to the reading of the operative part of the case in the Supreme Court. It was there where I have met Mikhail for the first time. After a while we received three documents from him, that shed some light on his case. The documents were sent from the colony in Navasady, where Zhamchuzhny is serving his sentence. I do not know how the papers have passed through the prison censorship and were handed over to us.
Thus, our vision of “Zhamchuzhny case” is based precisely on these documents. Of course, they do not give us a full understanding, but at least we have more or less clear picture.
The trap
– According to these documents, Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was under “development” on charges of spying for a foreign country. I have written down the key dates from the from the sentence, and the following the chronology of events could be established.
In 2007 the scientist Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment under article “Theft by abuse of office.” He was released in April 2012. And in August of the same year, three plasma plants were stolen from him. The man wrote a police statement. During the investigation, Zhamchuzhny establish contacts with the officer, who investigated the case. From the statement of this officer, it could be learned that while talking on the fact of theft Zhamchuzhny has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with what is happening in the country because of the protests on 19 December, 2010, at the same time talked about the arbitrariness of the police, about the innocent convicts, calling them victims of the regime, and that he planned to fight against such events in the country. He said that he came from Poland with the aim of recruiting law enforcement personnel and offered this officer the cooperation. Zhamchuzhny allegedly needed information to pass it to “serious people” abroad, who supposedly could make a difference in the country. Mikhail offered the policeman money for this information, and in the case of persecution by the KGB the man promised the officer and his family all the assistance they need, even to help leave the country through diplomatic channels.
According to the court, Mikhail on the fifth day of knowing a police officer directly suggested him recruitment. Honestly, I find it difficult even to imagine such kind of situation, especially bearing in mind that we are talking about a man who was isolated for 5 years and was just released from the prison. As for me, it’s nonsense, but for the court – a plausible version of the events.
I think Zhamchuzhny has gotten the attention of a police officer with his critical statements about the illegal actions of law enforcement agencies and the need to deal with it, and with “Poland” where he was staying for a few days in the summer. The policeman connected all these facts together and wrote a report to his superiors, which was transmitted the KGB.
If we look at the chronology of events, it turns out that for a certain time the officer has not reacted to the Zhamchuzhny’s offers. However, this was happening to a certain point.
This point was probably when Mikhail Zhamchuzhny became the founder of a human rights institution “Platform innovation”. At the beginning of 2013 (after nearly six months from the first contact with a policeman) the officer has agreed to cooperate with him. And in this I see the direct link not to the person of Zhamchuzhny, but to the human rights institution. In December 2012, Mikhail became the founder of this organization, and almost immediately the police officer agreed to the so-called recruitment.
Why Zhamchuzhny is recognized as a political prisoner?
Once we received the documents, we had two expert meetings during which we analyzed the situation – adds a human rights defender. We can say that some of the Zhamchuzhny’s actions were not lawful.
However, at the same time we should draw attention to the fact that the situation was the result of the activities of the special services. There was a certain plot. That is why when we recognized Mikhail Zhamchuzhny as a political prisoner, we judged from the fact that there was a political motive: the motive of the state body (the KGB) to strengthen its importance, for what the scheme was developed and Mikhail Zhamchuzhny became the victim of this scheme.
Now Mikhail is in prison, his lawyer is drafting an appeal. We announced our position on the Zhamchuzhny case and hope that the court will take into account the disclosure of the illegal schemes that have been used by special agencies. We demand a fair and open trial, and legal assessment of the actions not only of Mikhail Zhamchuzhny, but also by special agencies, in particular – the KGB.
We have included this case in the list of the primary demands to the authorities and we expect that its consideration at the political level will affect the Mikhail’s fate positively.
Reference
Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was born in 1955 in Vitebsk. He worked in Vitebsk Technological University. Associate Professor, Ph.D., author of several academic monographs.
He was a first person in the country to register a homemade car on alternative fuel. At the university he headed the laboratory, that worked on the issues of the industrial production of hydrogen.
The KGB started to take interest in the activities of the scientist. The criminal case was opened against the head of the laboratory. Mikhail was offered to cooperate with the KGB, to give evidence against his superiors. He rejected such offers. In 2007, he was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment under Article 210 of the Criminal Code “Theft by abuse of office.”
After his release in 2012 M. Zhamchuzhny decided to join the members of the “Platform” organization, and there he collected information on the situation in places of detention. After the liquidation of “Platform” he has agreed to become the founder of a new organization “Platform innovation”.
Mikhail Zhamchuzhny was arrested a week after the announcement of the sentence against the director of “Platform innovation” Andrei Bandarenka.
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