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Prosecutor’s office warns rights defender Bandarenka

 

The Minsk City Prosecutor’s Office on June 21 issued a formal warning to Andrey Bandarenka, the leader of a prisoner’s rights group called Platforma, for allegedly discrediting Belarus.

The warning stems from Platforma’s appeal to the International Ice Hockey Federation to strip Belarus of the right to host the 2014 World Championship unless all political prisoners are freed and the authorities stop repressive measures against opponents of the government and civil society activists.

According to the prosecutor’s office, the appeal contains “knowingly false information about the political and social situation in Belarus, the legal status of citizens in the Republic of Belarus, which discredits the Republic of Belarus or its agencies.”

“The allegations are absurd because the authorities themselves discredit the Republic of Belarus by flagrantly violating people’s rights, ignoring the constitution and issuing warnings to those who have the courage to say this,” the 39-year-old Bandarenka says in a statement. “People are arrested in the country for their views. Lawyers are stripped of their licenses. Authorities ban people from traveling abroad. Police severely beat people in their own country. The judiciary has been deprived of independence and is fully controlled by the executive. But we are told that everything is fine in the country and Belarus is ahead of the entire planet.”

“The real reason [for the warning] is that I have international contacts and I openly tell them what is going on in the country,” Mr. Bandarenka says. “In particular, I have recently returned from Geneva, where we discussed the need to establish the position of special rapporteur. The authorities obviously dislike this. They seek to create the illusion of a rule-of-law state and when they fail to do this, they try to neutralize those who contradict their allegations. [The imprisonment of ] Ales Byalyatski is a striking illustration of this.”

“It is not me who violates laws and the constitution, rigs elections and imprisons presidential candidates,” Mr. Bandarenka says. “It is not me who has driven the nation into complete international isolation, who has depreciated the rubel, who has borrowed $40 billion, and who is selling out public assets. The government should think why no one believes the picture it has painted. They can jail Bandarenka, but this won’t change the situation.”

Registered by the justice ministry in June 2011, Platforma addresses human rights abuse in correctional institutions and detention centers.

Earlier this year Platforma announced plans to press for the inclusion of prison and jail officers in the European Union’s travel ban and asset freeze blacklist for the use of “torture” against political prisoners.
"We support the European Union’s actions and will press for the inclusion of prison and jail officers responsible for the torture, cruel, inhuman and humiliating treatment of citizens of our country,” Mr. Bandarenka said on March 1.

A draft list drawn up by Platforma featured eight people, including the chiefs of the Committee for State Security (KGB)’s detention center, the Vitsba 3 prison near Vitsyebsk, Correctional Institution No. 17 in Shklow, Correctional Institution No. 5 in Ivatsevichy and Correctional Institution No. 9 in Horki.

Mr. Bandarenka told reporters on Monday that Platforma would conduct its own investigation into the deaths of prison inmates.

Platforma is "very concerned" about the recent deaths of several prisoners in disciplinary cells, including the husband of a Platforma member, he noted. "A preliminary inquiry raises suspicions that the man was killed," he said.

"In the space of four months alone, we have received reports of the deaths of four people in disciplinary cells. In all cases, the people were said to have committed suicide under completely unclear circumstances," Mr. Bandarenka said.

He noted that prosecutor`s offices had refused to investigate the suspicious deaths. // BelaPAN