Amnesty International calls Viasna hearings “shameful pretense of a trial”

January 6, BPN. Amnesty International has criticized the trial of Belarusian human rights activist Aleś Bialacki and his associates Valancin Stefanovič, Uładzimir Łabkovič and Źmicier Sałaŭjoŭ, describing it as unjust and shameful.

“The trial against Aleś Bialacki and his fellow human rights defenders is a blatant act of injustice wherein the state is clearly seeking to enact revenge for their activism,” Amnesty International’s Eastern Europe director Marie Struthers said, as quoted by the NGO’s website on January 5.

“In this shameful pretense of a trial, the defendants cannot even hope for a semblance of justice. The judge has not only refused to conduct the trial in Belarusian instead of Russian, but also to remove their handcuffs or adjourn the hearing so the defendants can familiarize themselves with the case materials,” she said.

The trial opened on January 5 at the Leninski District Court in Minsk. Authorities accuse the Nobel Peace Prize winner Bialacki of smuggling cash across the border and financing protests. The head of the Viasna Human Rights Center sits in the dock with Stefanovič and Łabkovič, while Sałaŭjoŭ, who has fled the country, is tried in absentia.

Amnesty International demanded that the arrested activists should be immediately released.