Lithuania helping to repress Belarusians

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://charter97.org/en/news/2011/8/4/41257/

Mikalai Khalezin: Lithuania leaks Viasna’s bank information

The head of the Belarus Free Theatre says Lithuania has disclosed NGOs bank information to the Belarusian authorities.

Journalist and the head of the Belarus Free Theatre Mikalai Khalezin writes this on his blog commenting on the information about the raid on Viasna human rights centre.

“Today, Viasna human rights centre is the most effective Belarusian human rights organizations. It is the organization of Ales Byalyatski that bore the brunt of legal assistance to the people involved in the December 19 criminal case persuading lawyers to take these difficult and risky cases. It is Viasna that organized the lion’s share of financial funds to help the repressed people and their families. One can make many claims to the organization, as to any other living structure acting in non-freedom, but they are the best today. That is why the main blow is aimed at them to knock out one of the pillars of the Belarusian resistance.

What is the most horrible in this situation with Viasna is that the premises for the blow were found not by the Financial Investigation Department, which investigates the case, but by the leadership of a neighbouring state.

It’s not a secret that a lot of opposition NGOs are registered in Lithuania, because they cannot conduct their economic activity in the native country. Some of these NGOs were registered officially, some use bank servicing as a legal entity, some opened a bank account as an individual but use it to receive financial aid to their structure. This was done on permission of the Lithuanian authorities and with support of local NGOs helping their Belarusian colleagues with legalization in the neighbouring country.

The situation suddenly changed some months ago. It was possible because of the open support of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s policy demonstrated by Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite. I do not know who personally gave the order, but a month ago, Lithuania disclosed all information relating to Belarusian NGOs registered in the country, private bank accounts of Belarusian public activists and transactions on these account on the request of the Belarusian Financial Investigation Department. Not only Ales Byalyatski and Viasna human rights centre are in danger, but also a number of other Belarusian independent public organizations and public activists,” Mikalai Khalezin is convinced.

[Dan and Judy 614]

Any Country that has free theater can't be all bad.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

http://news.yahoo.com/belarus-rights-group-leader-faces-7-years-jail-113852528.html;_ylt=Arq2LllWpBxy2vOoCBpRkN10bBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTM2c3ZzcDA3BHBrZwNlMTllYjVjMy0xMzEyLTNjZDUtYTNlZS03NGE5MzllMTkwMjEEcG9zAzE2BHNlYwN0b3Bfc3RvcnkEdmVyAzRlMjYzYjYwLWJmNjctMTFlMC1iZmI3LTVlNWRkMTYyMDdiZQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTFxNGdmMG5kBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdAN3b3JsZHxldXJvcGUEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3

Belarus rights group leader faces 7 years in jail

AP – 2 hrs 27 mins ago

MINSK, Belarus (AP) — The detained leader of the most prominent human rights group in Belarus faces up to seven years in jail for helping political prisoners and government critics in the authoritarian ex-Soviet nation, the group said Friday.

Police detained Ales Belyatsky of the Vesna group police outside his home in the capital, Minsk, on Thursday, and also conducted searches in his apartment and country house, as well as the group's offices.

Belyatsky faces up to seven years in jail on charges of "concealment of income," the group said in a statement. It said Belyatsky received large amounts of cash in neighboring Lithuania from the group's Western donors since his group was officially barred from receiving grants in Belarus.

The charges against Belyatsky "are punishment and revenge for many years of his work as a human rights advocate," the statement posted on the group's website said.

The group criticized Lithuanian authorities for providing information on Belyatsky's activities to Belarusian police, saying their cooperation "created favorable conditions for initiating a criminal case" against him.

But a Lithuania Justice Ministry official said the country wasn't aware about the intentions of neighboring Belarus to use the information against an opposition member. The ministry said it will now cut off communication channels that were used to provide legal information to Belarus.

"These agreements were quite convenient in criminal or civil cases, but now that we see that they use the data for political purposes, we stop providing information," Vice Justice Minister Tomas Vaitkevicius said.

Since 1996, Vesna has provided legal assistance to thousands of Belarusians who were fined, arrested or imprisoned for criticizing President Alexander Lukashenko's authoritarian policies.

In 2003, authorities terminated the group's official registration for reporting violations during the presidential elections.

Vesna has also been active in reporting on the police crackdown on a recent series of peaceful rallies that have reflected mounting public discontent against Lukashenko whom the West has dubbed "Europe's last dictator."

The German government's human rights commissioner, Markus Loening, demanded Belyatsky's immediate release. Germany "condemns in the strongest terms this political abuse of criminal law," Loening said in a statement.

Lukashenko, who has ruled the nation of 10 million people for nearly 17 years, won another term in December's election that was criticized by international observers.

[slim 1,525]

Any Country that has free theater can't be all bad.

Especially if that free theater displays mandatory propaganda for the current regime!