Human Rights League in Defense of Anatol Lyabedzka :: Charter'97 :: News

A letter addressed to A. Lukashenka was sent by an International League of Human Right yesterday: «The International League for Human Rights, a non-governmental organization based in New York with special consultative status with the UN ECOSOC, expresses concern about the criminal charges recently filed against a prominent opposition leader Anatoly Lyabedzka, chairman of the United Civic Party in Belarus, and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a well-known human rights group.»

Lyabedzka was charged with allegedly defaming President Aleksandr Lukashenko in an interview given on a Russian state television network Rossiya and was issued a summons from the Minsk prosecutor’s office on March 18. Under Article 367 of the Belarusian Criminal Code, defaming the president is a criminal offense, punishable by up to five years in prison.

Lyabedzka has been chairman of the United Civic Party since April, 2000. A long time opponent of Lukashenko’s government, Lyabedzka’s party refused to accept the results of the controversial 1996 referendum, which extended the president’s term of office from five to seven years. Since the 1996 referendum, the government has increasingly adopted repressive measures against civil society and independent media.

Criminal prosecution and harassment of Lukashenko’s opponents have become commonplace, especially since his dubious reelection in 2001. In 2002, reporters Mikola Markevich and Paval Mazheika of Pahonya and Viktar Ivashkevich of Rabochy (Worker) received corrective labor sentences for libeling the president in pre-election articles. Recently, Irina Khalip, editor of Belaruskaya Delovaya Gazeta (Belarusian Business News) has been a key witness in a case of alleged libel against Prosecutor General Victor Sheyman.

In a related incident, on March 17, the Belarusian government’s Financial Investigation Department brought criminal charges against the Belarusian Helsinki Committee, a branch of the Vienna based International Helsinki Federation, for failing to pay taxes and violating a Presidential Decree on declaring foreign financial assistance. The Committee faces a fine of 385,000,000 Belarus Rubles ($180,000) in unpaid taxes and fines for alleged unlawful use of project funds received under the European Union’s TACIS Technical Assistance Programme.

In a statement issued on March 22, the International Helsinki Federation disputed the charges and called for the Belarusian government to drop the case, claiming that the Presidential Decree does not apply to international technical assistance, such as the TACIS Programme. The Belarusian Helsinki Committee is exempt from taxation on foreign assistance according to the general rules agreed upon by Belarus and the European Union, noted Aaron Rhodes, Executive Director of IHF, in the statement.

The League stresses that exorbitant fines, overly broad interpretation of libel laws, and limitations on foreign funding are common methods used by Belarusian authorities to harass and ultimately silence civil society and critics of Lukashenko’s government.

The League believes both the libel charges against Lyabedzka and the fines against the Belarusian Helsinki Committee are politically motivated and part of an ongoing campaign by Belarusian authorities to stifle dissent and public criticism. The League urges the government to drop the charges and cease its ruthless assault against Belarusian civil society.

Thank you for your attention, we await your response.

Sincerely,

Louise Kantrow
Executive Director