Report on human rights in Belarus presented to the UN; the EU has extended and the US is planning to tighten sanctions; Henadz Shutau, killed by security forces, was found guilty, and the witness of the murder received 10 years in prison
25 February 2021 | Voice of Belarus
Source: t.me/belarusseichas
The EU has extended the sanctions against the government and businesses in Belarus, the US Congress has called for increased sanctions
The sanctions were extended for another year. They apply to 88 people, including Lukashenko as well as seven companies. Restrictive measures include a travel ban to the EU and an asset freeze.
In turn, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives of the US Congress unanimously approved a resolution calling to strengthen the previously imposed sanctions against Belarus.
The UN was presented with the report on the human rights situation in Belarus
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet presented the report on the human rights situation in Belarus in the context of the 2020 presidential elections at the 46th session of the UN Human Rights Council. It states that before and after the elections the actions of the Belarusian authorities, aimed at limiting the rights to freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association as well as the right to participate in political life led to an unprecedented crisis in the field of human rights in Belarus.
The preliminary investigation authorities received more than 4,600 complaints about the use of physical force and special equipment by representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs during the dispersal of the protests.
The head of the Belarusian diplomatic mission Yury Ambrazevich said that his country “does not recognize the resolution” in accordance to which this report was prepared and “does not agree with the very fact of its consideration”. Ambrazevich stressed that the very fact of considering this report is “a gross violation of the principle of non-interference.” According to the Permanent Representative of Belarus, the report does not contain a word about the objective picture of the mass character of the protests. “100, maximum 200 protesters out of the two million population of the capital,” Ambrazevich said.
Henadz Shutau, killed in Brest, was found guilty. His murder witness received 10 years in prison
In Brest, the late Henadz Shutau, mortally wounded in the head during the protests on 11 August, and his friend Aliaksander Kardzukou, who had been a witness of this event, received their sentences in court.
The judge found Shutau and Kardzukou guilty of resisting the security forces with the use of violence. Kardzukou was additionally found guilty of an attempted murder. Kardzukou received 10 years in a maximum security colony.
The military men, who were dressed in civilian clothes that evening, but for some reason had weapons on them and had been shooting at Shutau, were recognized as victims by the court.
A woman during the dispersal of the march bit a security officer and got 8 months in prison
Natallia Raentava bit a security officer when she was forcibly pulled out of the trolleybus during the dispersal of a women’s march. Today she has been sentenced to 8 months in prison. The prosecutor was insisting on two full years of imprisonment.
The term of imprisonment is considered to have started on 29 September 2020. Hence, Natallia has 3 more months to serve in prison.
For more information on the events of 25 February 2021, please visit Infocenter Free Belarus 2020.
