Ales Byalyatski to stand trial on November 2

• 20.10.2011, 13:02

A trial in the case against Ales Byalyatski has been set for November 2, Wednesday.

The criminal case will be considered by the Pershamaiski district court of Minsk (judge Syarhei Bandarenka), but the trial will be held in the headquarters of the Maskouski district court. The court proceeding begins at 10:00 am.

The headquarters of the Maskouski district court was chosen for the trial because courtroom in the Pershamaiski district court are too small.

We remind that the head of Viasna human rights centre and Vice President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has been under custody in the detention facility Nr 1 since August 4. Ales Byalyatski is accused of violating part 2 of article 243 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion on an especially large scale). The ground for criminal prosecution of the human rights activist was information about his foreign bank accounts revealed by the Lithuanian Ministry of Justice and Polish General Prosecutor’s Office to the Belarusian authorities.

International human rights groups, the leadership of the EU, the US and other democratic countries urge to release Ales Byalyatski, Viasna website reminds.