What kind of relations there are between the population and courts, Office of Public Prosecutor, militia, whether there is between them a trust, understanding? Former political prisoner Valery Levaneuski does not nourish the hope, he says, that all are influenced by position of these institutions. “Courts are not independent and Office of Public Prosecutor also. All depends on its “highness” plan, the human destiny interests nobody, the statistical reporting interests”.
V.Levaneuski recollects an interesting example: “As to courts several years ago there was a expression of the head of the state concerning that courts sometimes took out justificatory sentences or decisions that were soft. He has told that one state body - the investigation - tries, allocates money, reveals offenders, and courts justify them. You are all citizents of one state, aren`t you?”
From here there is the following practice, marks Levaneuski: “If a investigation shows something, the court legalizes it, in our case judge himself can have a problems. We should`t forget, that judge is appointed by president and depends exclusively on a vertical of power “.
The journalist of “Newspaper Vyborchey” Andrey Pochobut has a juridical education, and has been arrested and condemned. He considers, that the relation of a society to law enforcement bodies is defined by the following: ” The main thing is to punish here, instead of to protect, - the journalist speaks. - Absence of trust to law enforcement bodies is not a secret for the authority. Recently all Departments of Internal Affairs in the country are obliged to spend poll concerning trust to themselves. If it is less, apparently, 25 % then heads of Departments of Internal Affairs lose the post. In Hrodno area there were three such cases”.
“As a matter of fact process should be adversary, - said A.Pochobut. - But the court repeats that charge has told. The quantity of verdicts of”not guilty” is minimum, on the Hrodno area, apparently, is less than percent. Even during Stalin times, in my opinion, there were more verdicts of”not guilty”was , than now in Belarus”.
The additional information
Valery Levaneuski (Russian: Левоневский Валерий Станиславович, Belarusian: Валеры Станіслававіч Леване́ўскі, Polish: Walery Lewoniewski) - Belarussian political and social activist, former political prisoner. Amnesty International recognizes him as a prisoner of conscience
On 7 September 2004, he was sentenced to two years in prison for publicly insulting the president of Belarus (A.Lukashenko). The judge decreed that a leaflet which Levaneuski had distributed prior to demonstrations on 1 May 2004 in particular contained a text:
“come and say that you are against ’somebody’ going on holiday skiing in Austria and having a good time at your cost”
Since Alexander Lukashenko is known to have spent his holidays in Austria, the judge decide that leaflet contains a public insult to the President.
On 16 September 2004 European Parliament calls on the Belarus authorities to release immediately Valery Levaneuski and all other imprisoned political opponents of the regime.
Valery Levaneuski - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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