Human rights activist faces prison and confiscation of property
- 15.09.2009, 15:03
The Supreme Court of Belarus refused to change the verdict to human rights activist from Vitsebsk Leanid Svetsik.
The Supreme Court considered a cassation appeal against the verdict of the Vitsebsk region court against Leanid Svetsik under article 1130 part 1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus. The Supreme Court judicial division for criminal cases dismissed the appeal of Svetsik and decided the verdict of the lower court can’t be cancelled or changed.
We remind that on July 16, 2009, judge Urbanovich found Leanid Svetsik guilty of stirring up national hatred and sentenced to a fine worth of 31mln Belarusian rubles (10,890 dollars).
“34 pages of my appeal contain examples of violation of the procedure that have lead to such a cruel and unfair judgement against me. The judges didn’t pay due attention them, as I supposed. I didn’t expect another decision. Anyway, the verdict takes force today. I don’t know what to do. I don’t have this sum, but if I don’t pay it within a month, I can be arrested for three month under article 418 of the Criminal Code, besides property of my family will be attached to pay the fine,” Svetsik told the civil campaign “European Belarus” at a press conference.
In 2006–2007, Leanid Svetsik was rendering legal aid to Vitsebsk activists, who received letters with threats on behalf of unregistered pro-Nazi organization Russian National Unity, was helping to prepare complaints to prosecutors. A criminal case over fact of threats from RNU was instigated by the Vitsebsk KGB only on May 20 last year. Leanid Svetsik was mentioned as a witness in the case, but later he was said he was the suspected under article 130.1. Leanid Svetsik was a witness in the case at first, but than learnt he was announced the suspected.
The criminal case against him was suspended in September 2008. On March 31, 2009, he was charged under two articles of the Criminal Code: stirring up national or religious hatred (article 130) and libel against the president of Belarus (article 367). The human rights activist was given a written pledge not to leave town. Leanid Svetsik doesn’t admit his guilt and thinks the criminal case is revenge for his human rights activity.
Opposition activists, who appear as wronged persons in the case of “RNU letters”, have stated that they do not believe that Svetsik is guilty. They think that the human rights activist who demanded to find those responsible for sending letters with threats to them and other well-known people in 2006-2007, is intentionally charged with stirring up ethnic discord in order to discredit the human rights defense movement as a whole.
In early April Front Line, the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, sent a letter to Alyaksandr Lukashenka with a demand to stop criminal prosecution against the human rights activist Leanid Svetsik.