On the 3rd of April, the activist and former member of the Parliament Andrei Klimau was arrested in Minsk and sentenced to prison. He is charged with the appealing via the mass media to overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional regime. This is the first time in the modern history of Belarus that statements allegedly made in an Internet publication are used by prosecutors, and an indication of how the law can be used to infringe on the freedom of expression.(11-APR-07)


Source: www.charter97.org , illustrated by www.charter97.org 

Legislation
Article 361 of the Criminal code criminalizes appeals via the mass media to overthrow or forcibly change the constitutional regime, or to perpetrate “crimes against the state.” Klimau, who is detained in the remand prison in Minsk, faces a prison term of 1-5 years if convicted. According to Belarusian media, officials have refused to give information about the conditions under which he is detained, or any other information about the case. His wife has received a letter from Andrei and assumes he is placed to the cell in the semi-basement.

The incriminated article sighed by Klimau’s  name was published on the web-site www.ucpb.org , and contains thoughts on ways to change the political system of Belarus. However, Klimau has neither confirmed nor denied his authorship. His lawyer stated that Klimau refuses to cooperate with the investigation and denies the charges. 

Previous Imprisonments
Klimau previously spent over five years in prison based on his political activism, and was declared a Prisoner of Conscience by Amnesty International. Most recently, he was released in December 2006 having been convicted and incarcerated for a year-and-a half for organizing a public meeting in 2005.

International Support
The Belarusian Helsinki Committee (BHC) and the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF) are deeply concerned about the destiny of Andrei Klimau, and about the potential misuse of the Criminal Code to arbitrarily indict citizens on the basis of materials appearing on the Internet.
On the 3 April Belarusian public activist, former parliamentary deputy Andrei Klimau was arrested and put to the prison.

Belarusian human rights defenders undertake all possible steps and start a public campaign to support Klimau.