3 Mars 2023

Publié par LDH49

Le vice-président de la FIDH et ses collègues de Viasna condamnés à de lourdes peines de prison

Communiqués FIDH et appel à mobilisation

Trois dirigeants de l’ONG Viasna, le prix Nobel de la paix Ales Bialiatski, le vice-président de la FIDH Valiantsin Stefanovic et l’avocat Uladzimir Labkovich ont été condamnés aujourd’hui à de lourdes peines de prison. Ces sentences ne sont autre que des représailles sanctionnant 25 ans de travail en faveur des droits humains au Belarus. La Fédération internationale pour les droits humains (FIDH) condamne ce verdict contre ses amis et collègues et reste fermement mobilisée jusqu’à leur libération définitive.

3 mars 2023. - Ales Bialiatski et Valiantsin Stefanovic, respectivement ancien et actuel vice-présidents de la FIDH, ainsi qu’Uladzimir Labkovich ont été condamnés aujourd’hui à 10, 9 et 7 ans d’emprisonnement respectivement. Tous trois étaient accusés de contrebande et de financement d’actions portant atteinte à l’ordre public. Des prétextes fallacieux, utilisés pour sanctionner leur travail légitime en faveur des droits humains en tant que dirigeants de Viasna, l’une des principales organisations de défense des droits humains au Belarus, également membre de la FIDH.

"Des hommes innocents sont enfermés parce qu’ils ont refusé de reculer, de compromettre leurs valeurs et leur travail", a déclaré Alice Mogwe, présidente de la FIDH. "La FIDH continuera à dénoncer leur emprisonnement injustifié. Le mouvement mondial des droits humains condamne fermement ces pratiques, qui sont malheureusement de plus en plus courantes chez les régimes autoritaires."

Réagissant au verdict, Ilya Nuzov, chef du bureau Europe de l’Est et Asie centrale à la FIDH, qui connaît bien les accusés, note : "Voir nos collègues et amis recevoir ces peines draconiennes nous attriste et nous met en colète. Mais leur courage est à l’image de la lutte du peuple biélorusse pour la liberté et la démocratie, qui a fait naître un mouvement de solidarité et d’admiration mondiale – ce que le régime biélorusse n’aura jamais."

Oleksandra Matviitchuk, vice-présidente de la FIDH et responsable du Centre pour les libertés civiles, une ONG ukrainienne, membre de la FIDH, a déclaré : "La décision du tribunal est honteuse, les motivations politiques de cette affaire montée de toutes pièces sont claires. Cette attaque contre des militants des droits humains ne doit pas rester impunie. Nous attendons une réaction ferme de la communauté internationale. D’autant plus que le régime de Loukachenko constitue une menace non seulement pour ses propres citoyens, mais aussi pour la sécurité de toute notre région."

Puni pour avoir soutenu les victimes du régime de Loukachenko

A l’ouverture de leur procès le 5 janvier 2023, les accusés avaient déjà enduré plus de 17 mois d’incarcération. Le procès a été truffé d’illégalités au regard du droit biélorusse autant que de violations des droits humains. Les accusés ont été menottés et placés dans une cage à l’intérieur de la salle d’audience, en violation de la présomption d’innocence. Ils se sont vu refuser le droit à un interprète (le procès ayant eu lieu en russe et non en bélarusse) et n’ont pas eu suffisamment de temps pour se familiariser avec les centaines de volumes de documents relatifs à l’affaire. Leur défense n’a pas eu les moyens de répondre à un pouvoir judiciaire, qui n’est devenu guère plus qu’un simple accessoire du pouvoir exécutif.

Pour son rôle d’assistance aux victimes de répressions et de documentation de ces répressions, Viasna est devenue la cible de persécutions de la part des autorités exécutives. La répression au Belarus est devenue omniprésente et particulièrement brutale depuis les élections présidentielles de 2020, balayant le mouvement des droits de humains et toute dissidence dans le pays. Loukachenko étant l’allié de la Russie dans sa guerre en Ukraine, toute opposition à la guerre est également sévèrement réprimée.

Belarus: Sentencing of Viasna members Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich

The Observatory has been informed about the sentencing of Messrs. Ales Bialiatski, Nobel Peace Prize winner and Chairman of the Human Rights Center Viasna, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Deputy Head of Viasna and Vice-President of FIDH, and Uladzimir Labkovich, Viasna’s lawyer. All three have been arbitrarily detained since July 14, 2021. Viasna is a recipient of numerous prestigious awards for its adamant stand for human rights and democracy, including the Right Livelihood Award (2020) and the “Justice for Democracy Advocates” Albie Award (2022).

On March 3, 2022, the Leninsky District Court in Minsk sentenced Ales Bialiatski to 10 years of imprisonment, Valiantsin Stefanovich to nine years, and Uladzimir Labkovich to seven years, on trumped-up charges of “smuggling” and “financing group actions that disrupted public order” (Part 4 of Article 228, and Part 2 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus, respectively). In addition, the three human rights defenders were imposed heavy fines: Stefanovic and Labkovich were fined 111,000 Belarusian rubles (41,358 Euro) each and Bialiatski received a fine of 185,000 Belarusian rubles (68,930 Euro). They were further sentenced to a joint fine of 752,438 Belarusian rubles (280,357 Euro), an amount which they allegedly "obtained by criminal means," as specified in the accusation under the “smuggling” charge. The lawyers of the three human rights defenders will appeal the decision.

The Observatory recalls that on July 14, 2021, Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich were arbitrarily detained by officers of the Financial Investigations Department of Belarus. The accusation against them was made up after 120 searches and raids across the country, and interviews of about 100 witnesses. They were initially detained and held detained for 14 months on bogus charges of "tax evasion” (Part 2 of Art. 243 of the Belarus Criminal Code), but in September 2022, new charges of “smuggling” and “financing group actions that disrupted public order”, for which they have been sentenced, were filed against them, leaving little time for the defendants and their lawyers to prepare a new defence strategy before the opening of the trial in January 2023.

The trial opened on January 5, 2023. All the proceedings against the three human rights defenders were marred with multiple human rights violations, and the defendants appeared to have lost a lot of weight and being in frail condition.

The investigation into Messrs Bialiatski, Stefanovich and Labkovich case lasted over a year, which is contrary to Belarusian law and international standards. The three human rights defenders have been kept in appalling detention conditions, with Mr Bialiatski being held in a semi-basement floor with poor access to sunlight. In addition, their family members have been systematically denied access to the detainees, their access to their lawyers has been severely limited, and all communications by mail have been harshly censored by the authorities.

The nature of the sentence against the three human rights defenders shows they were prosecuted for carrying out legitimate human rights activities. The defendants have been convicted for allegedly bringing large sums of money into Belarus and using them for criminal purposes. During the trial, among the imputed “criminal purposes” the prosecution named the following: assisting detainees after demonstrations, paying lawyers’ fees, organising independent election monitoring, and continuing Viasna’s activities after its liquidation. The prosecution further alleged that the money was imported in small amounts so as not to declare it. These acts, according to the prosecution, were committed as part of an organised group, that is, Viasna.

The reprisals against Viasna and its members are part of a broader crackdown on civil society in Belarus following the mass protests against the 2020 Presidential elections fraud. In 2021 alone, the authorities shut down more than 275 human rights and other independent organisations, leaving not one legally operating human rights NGO in the country. Viasna is one of the leading Belarusian human rights organisations and has long been at the forefront of the Belarusian human rights movement. It is notably famous for maintaining a list of political prisoners in Belarus, which as of March 3, 2023 counted 1 458 persons.

The Observatory strongly condemns the unfair conviction and ongoing arbitrary detention of Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich, and urges the Belarusian authorities to quash their sentences and to immediately and unconditionally release them. The Observatory expresses grave concern over the high risk of torture and ill-treatment they face while in custody.

The Observatory further urges the authorities in Belarus to immediately and unconditionally release likewise arbitrarily detained Viasna members Marfa Rabkova, Andrey Chapiuk and Leanid Sudalenka, and to put an end to all acts of harassment against them, including at the judicial level.

How you can help

Please write to the authorities of Belarus asking them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being of all human rights defenders and journalists in Belarus, and respect and protect their right to be free from torture and other ill-treatment ;

ii. Quash the conviction of Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich, Uladzimir Labkovich, and immediately and unconditionally release them, as well as Leanid Sudalenka, Marfa Rabkova, Andrey Chapiuk, and all other detained human rights defenders, as their detention is arbitrary and seems to be merely aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities;

iii. Guarantee in all circumstances Ales Bialiatski, Valiantsin Stefanovich and Uladzimir Labkovich’s rights to due process and fair trial during all the proceedings against them, as well as the unhindered access to their lawyers and relatives;

iv. Put an end to all acts of harassment - including at the judicial level - against the above-mentioned human rights defenders, and ensure in all circumstances that they are able to carry out their legitimate activities without any hindrance and fear of reprisals;

v. Guarantee in all circumstances the right to freedom of association in the country, as enshrined in international human rights law and particularly in Article 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Addresses

Please also write to the diplomatic representations of Belarus in your respective countries.

• Mr. Aliaksandr Lukashenka, President of Belarus, Email: contact@president.gov.by;

• Mr. Andrei Shved, General Prosecutor of Belarus, Email: info@prokuratura.gov.by;

• Mr Dmitry Gora, Chairman of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus, Email: sk@sk.gov.by;

• Mr. Oleg Slizhevsky, Minister of Justice of Belarus, Email: kanc@minjust.by;

• Mr. Vasily Gerasimov, Acting Chairman of the State Control Committee of Belarus, Email: kgk@mail.belpak.by;

• Mr. Ivan Kubrakov, minister of Internal Affairs of Belarus, Email: pismo_mvd@mia.by;

• Mr. Yury Ambrazevich, Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.belarus@ties.itu.int;

• H.E. Mr. Aliaksandr Mikhnevich, Embassy of Belarus in Brussels, Email: belgium@mfa.gov.by

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Belarus in your respective country.

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken

quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

BLR 007 / 0721 / OBS 080.5

Sentencing / Arbitrary detention

Belarus– March 3,2023

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