Tereza Strzelec's case: Belarusian authorities violate own laws

Selling a car, seized from a Polish citizens, by customs agencies should raise many questions in the internal security directorate.

A dramatic story of Tereza Strzelec, who was banned from leaving Belarus, provoked a wide response. The people familiar with laws are shocked by unprofessional actions of the Belarusian judicial, customs and border agencies.

Lawyer Ihar Kabalik spoke to a charter97.org correspondent about the notorious story.

“To simplify, we can divide all events into some parts. The first one is bringing Tereza Strzelec to administrative responsibility and seizure of her vehicle. The Polish citizen was charged with violating article 14.7 of the Code of Administrative Offences of Belarus (using a vehicle under customs control in violation of the order prescribed by law.) The article contains another phrasing: “ as well as handing over vehicles, that were brought to Belarus's customs territory by a non-resident of Belarus for personal use, […] to resident of Belarus in violation of the order prescribed by law”.

To apply this article, two conditions are needed: “handing over a vehicle” and “for personal use”. If the first conditions formally took place, the second one was not proved even basing on the comments of the Customs Committee. Moreover, Tereza Strzelec says her was broken down in Belarus and  left at her friends while she returned to Poland to buy repair parts,” he said.

The lawyer is sure that actions of the customs agencies regarding selling the car should raise a lot of  questions in the internal security directorate.

“Why was the car sold so quickly and at what price? Were the sale procedures observed? Who is a happy new owner of the car? Moreover, the decision on seizure was cancelled later.

The procedure of charging the Polish citizen tax payments and penalties at a total amount of more than 173 million rubles looks disputable. She was not driving the car, when it was detained, so taxes and duties cannot be imposed on Tereza Strzelec. The claims should be addressed to the person, who was detained by the road police and who, according to the customs agency and the court, was the person who used the car for personal purposes,” Ihar Kabalik said.

The lawyer said the decision to annul the entry visa of Strzelec and ban her from returning to Poland was absurd.