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On Thursday, 24 November 2011, a Belarus court handed down a four-and-half-year prison sentence to Ales Belyatsky, human rights activist and the head of the Human Rights Centre ‘Viasna’. Belyatsky was also ordered to pay a fine of 721 million Belarusian rubles ($83,000). The conviction was based on the information on Mr Belyatsky’s bank accounts in Poland which the Belarusian authorities had received from the Polish Prosecutor General’s Office.

The HFHR’s Strategic Litigation Programme has won the European Award for Partnership in the Public Interest bestowed by the Public Interest Law Network (PILnet) for the most effective public-interest collaboration with law firms in 2011. The Award was handed out during the 2011 European Pro Bono Forum in Berlin. PILnet is a global organisation acting to strengthen civil society through inspiring and engaging lawyers in public interest actions.

This year, WATCH DOCS organisers have invited Liu Xiaobo, a Chinese human rights and peace activist, to sit on the jury of the Festival. In this way, they joined the “Empty Chair” campaign. As one of the signatories to the “Charter 08″, Liu Xiaobo called for bringing democracy to and abolishing the one-party system in China. In 2010 Mr Xiaobo was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The Court of Appeal revoked the judgement in the case of Waldemar T. charged with a high-profile murder at Palisadowa Street in Warsaw. The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights has been taking an ongoing interest in the trial against Waldemar T. for more than ten years. In the recent judgement, issued in November, the Court of Appeal in Warsaw once again ordered re-trial.

At the request of the Chief of the Warsaw Police Force, 24 observers of the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights were sent to observe rallies held on the Poland’s Independence Day. The Foundation’s experts watched the gatherings which came together at Plac na Rozdrożu, Plac Konstytucji and Marszałkowska Street in Warsaw. The rallies were marred by a number of riots and clashes between police and demonstrators.

On Wednesday, 9 November 2011, the District Court in Lublin discontinued the proceedings against S.P., accused of including defamatory statements in his review of the book by M.P., Professor at the Catholic University of Lublin and a member of the European Parliament. At the same time, the Court announced that the statements of reasons would be presented in seven days.

Courts and prosecutors still do not use non-custodial preventive measures often enough, says the joint report by the HFHR, the Forum of Civic Development and the Polish Business Roundtable drafted as part of the ‘Better Justice System’ project. The report examines the practical application of such measures as surety, duty to report to local police, prohibition to leave the country or suspension from work in criminal proceedings.

The HFHR sent a letter to the Polish Ambassador in Baku regarding the cases of human rights infringements against NGO activists in Azerbaijan. The Foundation refers in its letter to an incident that took place in August, during which headquarters of three NGOs were destroyed, also raising the issue of the Human Rights House closed in March this year.

The Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, together with other 10 European NGOs, has sent an open letter to the President of the European Commission, the President of the European Parliament, the President of the European Council and the Poland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs urging them to give more powers to the Agency for Fundamental Rights.