Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 4th March. UN human rights office on Friday said that the new round of prison sentences announced in Belarus signal “ongoing repression” in the country, where 1,500 people are detained on politically motivated charges.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the UN human rights office said “The prison sentences delivered today in Belarus against four human rights defenders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, are deeply troubling and indicative of the ongoing repression in the country,”
Head of OHCHR Volker Türk has called for an end to the persecution of human rights defenders and of people expressing dissenting views, and for an end to arbitrary detention once and for all, she said.
The agency said the authorities announced that Mr. Bialiatski, chair of the Viasna Human Rights Center, received a 10-year prison sentence related to smuggling and extremism-related charges.
Three other Viasna members – Valiantsin Stefanovich, Uladzimir Labkovich, and Dzmitry Salauyou were given sentences of nine, seven, and eight years respectively. Mr. Salauyou was tried in absentia, OCHCR reported.
She said “We remain deeply concerned that, as of today, some 1,458 people are reported to be in detention in Belarus on politically motivated charges,”.
“The lack of independence of the judiciary and other violations of fair trial guarantees have resulted in human rights defenders in Belarus being criminally prosecuted, convicted, and sentenced for their legitimate human rights work,” she said.
She added this includes recent prison sentences meted out related to charges of extremism and high treason.
OCHCR added that 10 members of the workers movement Rabochy Rukh, were sentenced to between 12 and 15 years, and on 8 February, journalist Andrzej Poczobut, was sentenced to eight years in prison.
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