On 12 July the Minsk City Court considered an appeal of the imprisoned head of the Human Rights Center “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski against the verdict of the Pershamaiski District Court of Minsk of 29 March, according to which he was sentenced to pay 140 million roubles (over EUR 13.5 thousand) of fine for an untimely payment of taxes. Neither Bialiatski, nor his lawyer, friends or relatives knew anything about the March trial, and it is only afterwards that they were informed.

Initially, the District сourt decided to recover over 352 million roubles from Ales Bialiatski, but then the sum was indexed to 750 million roubles. In turn, the Tax Inspectorate appointed penalty of 140 million roubles for late payment of taxes. Bialiatski tried to prove illegality of such a decision, but the City Court rejected the complaint.

Bialiatski also received information about another verdict regarding his HR activities. According to his wife Natallia Pinchuk, on 4 July Minsk court ruled to confiscate the apartment where HR defenders from “Viasna” previously worked, as well as part of private property.

Bialiatski awarded Petra Kelly Prize
At the same time, Ales Bialiatski receives support at the international level.

Heinrich Böll Foundation has awarded the Petra Kelly Prize to Ales Bialiatski. Natallia Pinchuk was informed about the award in a letter from Christof Weil, a Germany’s ex-ambassador to Belarus, who wrote that the prize was awarded in recognition of Bialiatski’s activity in upholding human rights in Belarus.

“I heartily congratulate him on this award, which he is worthy of to the greatest extent. The name of Ales Bialiatski symbolises personal integrity and dedication in the fight for the rights of those suffering from repression”, Weil wrote.

Bialiatski supported by Eurovision 2012 winner Loreen

 On 13 July Swedish singer Loreen, while in Minsk, met with Bialiatski’s wife Natallia Pinchuk, a human right defender from “Viasna” Valiantsin Stefanovich, and independent journalists in order to learn more about the condition of Belarusian political prisoners and the situation in Belarus.

The wife of the imprisoned leader of “Viasna” said that Loreen impressed her a lot: “It was obvious that she did not approach this meeting formally. Her questions were very heartfelt and interested – both when they concerned the personal situation of Ales, and the situation in the country and the plight of other political prisoners”.

Natallia also mentioned the fact that Loreen left an autograph for Ales Bialiatski containing the following words of support: “Stay true to your heart and mind!”. Natallia Pinchuk says: “This is a very wise wish. It is wise beyond her years, because she is a young girl – she managed in such a way to express the very thing that Ales needs in the harsh conditions in which he is now”.

Human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovich tried to inform Loreen as much as possible about Belarusian political prisoners, and focused on the plight of Zmitser Dashkevich, who is now under very strong pressure. He also spoke about the events of 19 December 2010 in Minsk, as well as presented Loreen with an album published by “Viasna” about the trials of persons involved in these events, and the “Review of human rights violations in Belarus in 2010”, where the events following the presidential election are covered in detail.

During this meeting Loreen also signed a petition of campaign “Human rights defenders against the death penalty in Belarus”.

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The criminal case against Ales Bialiatski was based on information on accounts owned by Bialiatski in foreign banks and intended for the activities of HRC “Viasna”. This information was provided to the Belarusian authorities by the Ministry of Justice of Lithuania and the Prosecutor General of Poland. Belarusian authorities regarded the money on Bialiatski’s accounts as his personal income, and accused him of concealing assets. EU, U.S. and international human rights groups consider Bialiatski a political prisoner and his sentence to be politically motivated. They demand from the Belarusian authorities to release the human rights defender.

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