Helsinki Committee: “Zeltser cannot take part in the process in this condition”

• 7.08.2008, 16:39

The chairman of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee believes that Emanuel Zeltser cannot take part in the trial if he has serious health problems in prison.

“It is very difficult to give an opinion, when the trial is held in a secret regime, lawyers cannot tell much, and observers are not admitted to the court. There are great doubts that everything is done in compliance with the law. The fact that Zeltser cannot walk to the court himself because of his state of health shows that he cannot take part in the trial. The man is seriously ill, and his health is more important for him now that the events in the court. As a result of physical suffering he cannot take part in his own defense adequately. Under such conditions there are more and more doubts that Zeltser’s rights would be defended and due process of law would be guaranteed,” Aleh Hulak said in an interview to the Charter’97 press-centre.

As the Charter’97 press-centre informed, the state of health of the US citizen Emanuel Zeltser is so poor that police guards carry him into the court in arms. It has been told to journalists by Emanuel Zeltser’s lawyer Dzmitry Harachka.

“E. Zeltser constantly complains about his health. He says that its’ difficult for him to walk upstairs to the court building, and police guards carry him in arms to the third floor,” Harachka said.

Besides, he noted that “the person who had been taking medicines all his life, and who is not given pills now, is simply dying slowly”. The lawyer refused to tell details of the trial over Zeltser, reminding that he had given a written undertaking to the court not to disclose information.