Minsk: Human Rights Center Viasna expresses its decisive protest against the criminal case against the oppositional activists Paviel Sieviaryniets and Mikalai Statkievich. According to the court verdict, both politicians were sentenced to three years of jail on 31 May. (3-JUNE-05)
STATEMENT of Human Rights Center Viasna concerning the sentence given to the activists of Belarusian democratic opposition Paviel Sieviaryniets and Mikalai Statkievich.
On 31 May Minsk Tsentralny Borough Court issued the accusative sentence on the criminal case against the oppositional activists Paviel Sieviaryniets and Mikalai Statkievich. According to the court verdict, both politicians were sentenced to three years of jail.
Human Rights Center Viasna expresses its decisive protest against the continuation of political repressions in the country and considers the issued sentence illegal and politically motivated. The accusative sentence was another bright evidence of the absence of independent court system in the Republic of Belarus, where the authorities fulfill repressive functions in Lukashenka’s authoritarian regime instead of rendering justice and defending the rights of citizens.
During the trial Mikalai Statkievich was punished for his public position with ten days of jail where he was kept in the inhuman conditions that presented danger to his health. As a result he had to declare a hunger-strike of protest.
Human Rights Center Viasna turns the attention of Belarusian and international community on the fact that the referendum that was initiated by Lukashenka on 17 October 2004 was unconstitutional and its results were falsified.
Human Rights Center Viasna calls the authorities of the European countries, the Council of Europe and the European Parliament to add to their list of personae non-grata the judges of Minsk Tsentralny Borough Court Lieanid Iasinovich, Aliaksiei Bychko and the procurator Vadzim Pazniak for direct participation in repression of the political opponents of the present regime in Belarus.
