As was stated by the colleagues of Bialiatski at the press conference in the Belarusian Human Rights House in Vilnius, the basis for the arrest of human rights defender and search of his apartment and office of Human Rights Centre “Viasna” was the information on bank accounts, which the Belarusian side has received from the Ministry of Justice of Lithuania.
Deputy Chairman of the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” Valiantsin Stefanovich (left) said that the Belarusian human rights activists, of course, appreciate the long continued help Lithuania provided to Belarus, the evidence of which is the presence of the Human Rights House existing in Vilnius. Nevertheless, the human rights defenders are outraged by the fact that Ales Bialiatski was arrested with the assistance of Lithuania.
According to Stefanovich, account information was transferred in March of this year. In early July, Stefanovich and Bialiatski were summoned up to the Tax Inspectorate, where the human rights defenders were introduced to the printouts of bank accounts in the banks “SEB” and “DnB NORD».
“The funds that were transferred to accounts in Lithuania, were not directed to private needs of the registered holders of these accounts, but to the human rights activities, in particular – to support of political prisoners in Belarus”, – said Stefanovich.
At the press conference about the arrest of Bialiatski, the Vice-Minister of Justice of Lithuania Tomas Vaitkevičius said that the ministry has transferred to the Belarusian authorities information on Lithuanian bank accounts in Lithuania of 400 citizens of Belarus.
Vaitkevičius said that Belarus and Lithuania, have signed an agreement under which such information must be provided upon request of each country. According to Vice-Minister, this year Lithuania handed over to Belarus information about 400 people.
Among others, Belarus has received the information about private accounts opened in the name of human rights activist Ales Bialiatski and several other Belarusian human rights defenders in Lithuanian banks «DnB NORD» and «SEB». Banks had the right to refuse to give this information, said the Vice-Minister. According to him, the ministry has sent a recommendation to the banks to pass this information, however it was not an order.
Commenting on the actions of the Ministry of Justice of Lithuania, Valiantsin Stefanovich said: “I know how much does Lithuania to support democracy in Belarus. I concider this situation as misunderstanding, but such misunderstanding will cost us dearly. “
Human rights defenders are protesting against the detention of Bialiatski
Detention of 
Ales Bialiatski outraged his colleagues. The Human Rights Centre “Viasna” considers the criminal case against Ales Bialiatski as “punishment and revenge for many years of his human rights activities, as well as a intention to destroy the Human Rights Centre “Viasna” and frighten the whole human rights movement in Belarus.”
“Viasna” demands the immediate release of Ales Bialiatski and termination of criminal proceedings against him, vows to continue its work and regrets that the authorities of Lithuania have created favourable conditions for this criminal case.
International Federation for Human Rights also expressed its deep concern over the arrest of Ales Bialiatski, the vice president of this organization.
The organisation has spread a statement which said that the arrest is a continuation of the wave of repressions that began after the presidential election.
“Starting from April 2011 Ales Bialiatski has been the subject of a smear campaign in the state radio and TV channels in which he was presented as an” enemy of the people number 1. ”
FIDH calls for the immediate and unconditional release of its vice-president Ales Bialiatski, “- says the statement.
“Ales Bialiatski’s arrest is a new step to repress civil society and persecute human rights activities in Belarus – unprecedented repression has taken place in the country since 19 December 2010 and the authorities’ attack against this prominent human rights defender shows their willingness to shut down critical voices” – states the appeal.
The authors also urge internatinal community to “make use of its political will, authority and power to demand that human rights defenders in Belarus can carry out their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities without fear of reprisals and free of all restrictions including judicial harassment.”
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Bialiatski was detained 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. As he managed to tell his colleague Tatsiana Reviaka by phone, he is charged with ‘tax evasion’.
“I think the reason behind these charges is the fact that our organization [Viasna] has been providing different assistance to victims of political repressions in Belarus,” – stated Reviaka, Bialiatski’s colleague at Viasna and the President of the Belarusian Human Rights House in Vilnius.
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.
Bialiatski has been the Chairperson of the Human Rights Center Viasna since 1998. The NGO was formally closed down by the court decision in 2003, after its active participation in presidential election observation.
Viasna has been repeatedly trying to regain its formal status in Belarus with no success. The international community believes repressions against Viasna and its leaders to be politically motivated. The NGO is a member of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and one of the founders of the Belarusian Human Rights House in exile in Lithuania.
Many hundreds of the regime victims have received legal and other kinds of assistance from Viasna in Belarus.
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