Ales Bialiatski, the head of human rights center Viasna, who is now held in detention, has been preparing himself for the trial. He filed an official compliant to state institutions for not being provided with the criminal code in Belarusian.
„I addressed House of Representatives, the Superme Court and the National Center for Legislation and Legal Research stating that my rights were violated, because a criminal code and a criminal proceedings code have neven been published in Belarusian language.“ – Bialiatski wrote in a letter to a fellow human rights activist, Uladzimir Labkovich.
Bialiatski recalled the Belarusian constitution which grants an official status to two languages. „In reality, my right to defense was violatated, because during the trial I will have to focus on translating legal terms [from Russian to Belarusian].“
Bialiatski’s right to correspondence with his family and friends has been also violated. But after a number of media reports and a long pause, the flow of letters was restored.
Ales Bialiatski, the head of human rights center „Viasna“ shut down by the Belarusian authorities and the vice-president of FIDH (international federation of human rights defenders), has been imprisoned since August 4th, 2011. He is accused of large-scale tax evasion, based on documents handed to the Belarusian prosecution by Polish and Lithuanian officials. He is facing up to seven years in prison.
Belsat
