In the letter, Human Rights House Foundation extends the appeal to anybody with similar charges as those brought against Leonid Sudalenka.
It oulines that such charges are a result of Belarusian legislation that is in breach of international human rights law, which protects the right to freedom of peaceful assembly as the right to gather publicly or privately and collectively express, promote, pursue and defend common interests. The relevant Belarusian legislation de facto bans the right to freedom of peaceful assembly without prior authorisation from the authorites.
Since February 2017, hundreds of people have been protested peacefully in the streets of different cities of Belarus against the Presidential Decree Nr 3 “On preventing social dependency”, which imposes a 250 dollars tax on those who work less than half a year and do not register at the country’s labour offices
Read the full letter to the Court.
Documents:
- Letter on Leonid Sudalenka’s arrest and trial
Human Rights Houses Foundation wrote to the Central District Court in Belarus to appeal to the Court to drop charges against prominent human rights lawyer Leonid Sudalenka, relating to his participating in and monitoring and reporting on recent peaceful protests.
Protests in Belarus
The authorities in Belarus have arrested more than 100 people in connection with peaceful protests in several cities, following an outcry against a law imposing a tax on unemployed Belarusians.
