29 March 2024, Friday, 11:25
Support
the website
Sim Sim,
Charter 97!
Categories

General Prosecutor’s Office covers preventive arrests of oppositionists

General Prosecutor’s Office covers preventive arrests of oppositionists

Human Rights Center "Viasna" received an answer from the General Prosecutor’s Office about an appeal of a number of leaders of human rights organizations on the issue of preventive detention of civilian activists.

Representatives of human rights organizations in Belarus - Belarusian Helsinki Committee, Human Rights Center "Viasna", Committee for Protection of the Repressed "Solidarity", the Centre for Legal Transformation, and the Center for Human Rights have sent a joint appeal to the Attorney General of the Republic of Belarus Aliaxandar Kanyukou and the Chairman of the Supreme Court of Belarus Valiantsin Sukala, requesting a meeting to discuss the situation with illegal preventive detention of community activists and representatives of youth opposition groups, combating this illegal practice and bringing the perpetrators to justice.

Head of the Department for Supervision over the observance of the rights and freedoms of citizens, M.V.Papova, simply made a bureaucratic response, reporting to "Gulak A. et al" the following: "Given that you are not a person to whom, in prescribed order, is delegated the right to represent the interests of these citizens, there are no sufficient grounds to consider your appeal".

Here M.V.Papova refers to the article 2.16 of the Procedural-Executive Code of Administrative Offences, according to which the right to appeal procedural actions or decisions, made on cases of administrative offenses, have persons, against whom the administrative process is carried out, counsel, victim, legal representative, witness, expert, specialist, translator, and others involved in the administrative process, reports the website of the Human Rights Centre "Viasna".

Otherwise, the representation of the interests of citizens during an appeal to the state agency or other organization is based on an act of legislation of the Republic of Belarus or an act of an authorized state agency, or local authority, or a letter of attorney, executed in accordance with the civil legislation of the Republic of Belarus.

But human rights activists in their address didn’t ask to represent the interests of citizens in administrative processes, but only meet with the Attorney General of the Republic of Belarus, the Chairman of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Belarus to discuss the situation, prevent illegal practices, and bring the perpetrators to justice. Basically, they didn’t hear an answer from the Prosecutor General's Office.

The Deputy of the Human Rights Center "Viasna" Valiantsin Stefanovich said that in this appeal, "representatives of the Belarusian human rights organizations expressed their concern that illegal and politically motivated detentions and arrests of political and civil activists have actually become a norm in the country. It is very unfortunate that not only representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, but also judges are involved in these processes. This problem we planned to discuss with senior officials, whose responsibility is to protect legitimate rights of citizens of the country. We did not complain to the sentences of the courts, did not intend to represent these citizens in these public bodies and institutions. It is a pity that the General Prosecutor's Office declined in an ostrich style the offer of the human rights defenders".

Write your comment

Follow Charter97.org social media accounts