Epress.am News from Armenia
The Committee on International Control over the Human Rights Situation in Belarus (the Helsinki Association for Human Rights is the Committee’s representation in Armenia) is organizing a demonstration today in defense of Ales Bialiatski, the human rights activist in Belarus who was sentenced to prison Thursday.
Bialiatski (also spelling Belyatsky; first name Aliaksander), the Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Head of the Belarusian Human Rights Centre “Viasna”, was arrested on Aug. 4, and convicted on Nov. 24 on tax evasion charges and sentenced to four-and-a-half years in an enhanced regime detention camp with property confiscation.
According to the Human Rights Watch, tax-evasion charges against Bialiatski stemmed from his use of his personal bank accounts in Lithuania and Poland to receive funding from international donors for human rights work in Belarus. Human Rights Watch said that the Belarusian authorities created many obstacles to prevent human rights groups like Viasna from operating in compliance with the law, forcing them into a legal limbo that the government exploits to punish them. Human Rights Watch has repeatedly called on the prosecution to withdraw the charges.
The charges were blatantly politically motivated, and he should never have been arrested or tried. Ales Bialiatski is a prisoner of conscience and must be immediately and unconditionally released,” said Amnesty International in a separate statement.
The demonstration in Yerevan today will take place outside the Belorussian Embassy (12a Nikol Dumani St. in Arabkir administrative district) at 2:30 pm. Activists will be calling for Bialiatski’s release and an end to the criminal persecution against him.
Similar demonstrations are set to take place in other countries — Ukraine, Russia and Kyrgyzstan.
Recall, a similar demonstration was held in Yerevan on Sept. 5, protesting Bialiatski’s initial arrest.