The court ordered to confiscate property of the defendant, including property registered to other persons, in order to execute a punishment. By desision of the court, Bialiatski has to pay 721 million loss and 36 million state tax.

The courtroom was attended by the ambassadors of Lithuania, the Czech Republic, heads of diplomatic missions of the USA, France, Germany, Hungary, as well as former presidential candidate Uladzimir Niakliayeu, writer Edward Akulin, and a number of journalists. After the delivering of judgment Bialiatski had time to shout “You cannot stop “Spring!”. In the lobby of the court people unfurled banner “You cannot stop “Spring!” in defense of Bialiatski.

In his last plea on November 23, Bialatski said: “I’m in a rather complicated situation, as I understand that this case from beginning to end had a political subtext. The statement of a lawyer and my last plea, unfortunately, resemble the voice of a man in a wilderness, who cannot reach anyone. And now I feel like the one that cries in the wilderness, trying to reach the sun.”

For the Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, this judgment is “a reprisal against our colleague, a revenge for his many years of human rights activities, as well as a desire to destroy our organization and to intimidate the entire human rights movement in Belarus,” as said in a statement issued on 24 November 2011.

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Bialiatski was detained on 4 August near the Victory Square in Minsk and brought to the office of his NGO for a search. His apartment in Minsk and summer house outside the Belarusian capital were also searched.

According to the Department of financial investigation of Committee on governmental control, Ales Bialiatski has to pay around 150 million rubles or 29 thousand US dollars at National Bank exchange rate, from the money transferred to his account in Lithuanian bank. The colleagues of Bialiatski say that this funds were directed to help the victims of Belarusian regime. In 2003, licence of “Viasna” was cancelled, therefore the human rights defenders had to look for different ways to continue their activity.

Article 243.2 of the Belarusian Criminal Code “Tax evasion on an especially large scale” provides for an imprisonment for up to seven years and confiscation of property.

Call for immediate release and rehabilitation of Bialiatski

64 human rights organizations, members and partners of the Human Rights House Network, resolutely condemn the court verdict to sentence Ales Bialiatski to 4,5 years imprisonment with confiscation of his property. We call upon the Belarusian authorities to immediately drop all charges against Ales Bialiatski and stop his criminal prosecution.

See letter to Belarusian authorities

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OSCE Chairperson expresses dismay over conviction of Ales Bialiatski

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, today expressed profound dismay over the conviction of prominent Belarusian human rights defender Aliaksandr (Ales) Bialiatski.

Bialiatski, the Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights and Head of the Belarusian Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, was convicted today on tax evasion charges and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in an enhanced regime detention camp with property confiscation.

“This case must be seen as part of a broader pattern of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders in Belarus,” Ažubalis said.

See full statement issued on 24 November 2011

High Representative Catherine Ashton seriously concerned

Catherine Ashton, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the Commission, and Stefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, made today the following statement:

“We deplore the harsh sentence pronounced today on the internationally renowned Human Rights defender Ales Byalyatski.

We consider today’s sentence as clearly politically motivated. It targets Ales Byalyatski and the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” for their courageous support to victims of repression in Belarus. As such, it is a symbol of the ever intensifying crackdown on civil society in the country since the 19 December 2010 Presidential elections.

We call on Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release and rehabilitate Ales Byalyatski and all other political prisoners in Belarus.”

See full statement issued on 24 November 2011