Human rights activist Garry Pogonyailo faces slander charge :: Charter'97 :: News

The Minsk City Prosecutor’s Office has instituted criminal proceedings against human rights activist Garry Pogonyailo, deputy head of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee who is alleged to have slandered Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko in his interview with Sweden`s TV 4 channel.

As Mr. Pogonyailo told BelaPAN, the interview in question was about Belarus` high-profile disappearances. He said that he had named the head of state, Prosecutor General Viktor Sheiman, Sports Minister Yury Sivakov and Interior Minister Vladimir Naumov as people widely believed to have been involved in the disappearances.

A tape with the interview was seized by Belarusian customs officers when Mr. Pogonyailo was returning to Belarus and then sent to the Committee for State Security (KGB) and the Prosecutor General’s Office, according to the human rights activist.

“I am and will believe that the evidence we have give us the right to insist that the above-mentioned persons were involved in the disappearances,” he said.

If the persons have nothing to do with the crimes, then the authorities themselves should be interested in a thorough and independent investigation, he said.

The suspicion will not be dropped until the inquiry is launched, he added.

If found guilty, Mr. Pogonyailo may receive a prison sentence of up to five years.