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The HFHR presented the Minister of Justice with an opinion on the draft law amending the Code of Criminal Procedure, dated 5 June 2012. The project in its current shape is designed to significantly modify the essence of criminal litigation. So far, the court has played a key role in criminal evidentiary proceedings. However, the draft amendment places the burden of going forward with evidence onto the parties to the proceedings.

4 August 2012 marked one year since the arrest of Ales Belyatsky, a Belarusian human rights activist. Ales Belyatsky was arrested after Polish and Lithuanian prosecutors had provided Belarussian authorities with details of his private bank accounts, used to receive funds for victims of political repression in Belarus. Mr Belyatsky was sentenced to four and a half years in a high-security colony and property forfeiture.

The Circuit Court in Sieradz heard the appeal in the case of Adam Synowiec, a former city councillor in Zduńska Wola. In the first instance, Mr Synowiec was found guilty of abusing his official power, the offence under article 231(1) of the Criminal Code because he signed a leaflet criticising an intending senator during the election campaign. The appellate court ordered retrial.

A Filipino national, a legal partner of a Pole under the UK law, has been refused entry to Poland by border officers. The Border Guard’s decision has been appealed against before the Provincial Administrative Court in Warsaw, which is expected to make a ruling. In November 2011, X.Y., a Filipino national travelling with his Polish partner, was refused entry to Poland by a Border Guard officer. He was told he was not allowed to enter Poland because the country did not recognise homosexual partnerships.

HFHR received an appeal for help from an inhabitant of Łomża living alone in a social housing apartment. He is a physically disabled, wheelchair-bound person. The apartment he presently occupies is on the 8th floor and cannot be directly accessed by means of an elevator. Additionally, the shared toilet in the corridor is not equipped for the needs of disabled persons and does not guarantee ease of use and privacy they require.

The District Court for Łódź Śródmieście acquitted Krzysztof Kuszej on all counts. The artist from Łódź was charged with recording pornographic content depicting minors as well as propagation and endorsement of paedophile activities in his works which addressed the issue of paedophilia in the Catholic Church.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the Foundation on the measures taken to clear up the circumstances of the Sergei Magnitsky’s death. The Ministry’s letter indicated that as a result of the collaboration of the European states, including Poland, on 27 March 2012 the European Council took a position and called on Russia to not only pursue a comprehensive and thorough investigation into the death of Sergei Magnitsky but also to close the long-pending proceedings and to hold the guilty accountable for their actions.

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg communicated to the Polish authorities the application brought in the case of al-Nashiri vs. Poland. The ECtHR obliged the Polish Government to disclose a series of information concerning the case of 5 September 2012.

Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe in its Resolution 1891 (2012) calls on the member States of the Council of Europe to “ensure observance of fundamental freedoms of human rights defenders and put an end to any administrative, fiscal or judicial harassment of human rights defenders.”