Freedom to Alyaksandr Kazulin! :: Charter'97 :: News

Today in Minsk city court a cassation appeal to the verdict to the former presidential candidate Alyaksandr Kazulin is to be heard. Kazulin has been sentenced to 5.5 years of imprisonment in a minimum security colony. The day before the politician addressed judges of Minsk city court and called upon them to “judge according with their conscience, taking in consideration their inner and not dictated believes”. The letter of the politician, whose cassation appeal is to be considered on September 19 in Minsk city court, is published at his official site.

As we have informed, Alyaksandr Kazulin was sentenced to 5.5 years for hooliganism, and for organizing group actions grossly violating public order and connected with insubordination to legal demands of police, or caused interruption of work of transport, enterprises or other bodies.

“I hope that principles of law, citizens’ equality before the law, justice and humanism are not mere words, but are basic ideas which cannot be sacrificed by judges,” the letter reads.

A.Kazulin calls all charges against him “falsified and unsubstantiated”. The fact of filing criminal cases against a presidential candidate shows that the case has an evidently political nature,” the politician notes. “It has been done with an aim to prevent me from carrying out my constitutional duties, and prevent voters from making a well-judged choice among candidates for the highest position”.

A.Kazulin believes that the court of the first instance “hadn’t fully and comprehensively studied the actions of investigative authorities that had been forging evidence, and creating testimonies of this guiltiness artificially”. As said by the politician, “From the first court session I have understood that Judge Rybakou is not aiming at objective and comprehensive judical inquiry”. “Their biased attitude towards me and witnesses of defense, citizens in the court, including ambassadors of the EU and representatives of the US and OSCE was verging to a barefaced offensiveness, has demonstrated that a judge would do anything to perform an order from higher authorities,” the letter reads.

The letter of the politician also contains an evaluation of the judicial system of Belarus. As said by Kazulin, it needs reforming and democratisation”.

The former candidate for presidency also asks the court to allow him to participate in consideration of the criminal case in the cassation court, and to oblige the persons recognized as victims to give explanations.

Alyaksandr Kazulin was detained during a forcible disband of a peaceful demonstration on March 25. On that day law-enforcers used weapons and non-lethal weapons like smoke grenades, noise-making explosives, tear gas. Protesters were brutally beaten up, many of them were hospitalized. According to some reports, not confirmed by the regime, one person died.

On March 30 the leader of the Belarusian Social Democratic Party (Hramada) was charged with violation of twp articles of the Criminal Code.

His attempt to come to the National Press-center to hold a press conference as a candidate for presidency on February 17 was viewed as hooliganism (Article 339 Part 2 of the Criminal Code). He was charged with violation of the same article for an incident on March 2, when the ex-rector of Belarusian State University broke Lukashenka’s portrait in the building of Kastrychnitski district Interior department. On that day Kazulin was brutally beaten up as he attempted to enter the so-called All-Belarusian meeting, where Lukashenka was present. SOBR commander Dzmitry Paulichenka personally took part in the battery. The world community suspects Paulichenka of abductions and assassinations of oppositionists and a journalist.

As for the events of March 25, the court found Kazulin guilty of organizing mass riot, violating article 341 Part 1 of the Criminal Code (organization of group activities violating civil order, or active participation in similar activities).