Harry Pahanyajla sues Yarmoshyna
- 21.10.2010, 18:46
The human rights activist believes that Alyaksandr Lukashenka has in fact committed a constitutional coup in Belarus.
Initiation of proceedings has been denied to the well-known Belarusian lawyer Harry Pahanyajla by the court of Maskouski district of Minsk. He lodged a complaint against actions of the chair of the Central Election Commission Lidziya Yarmoshyna.
The chairman of the legal commission of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee asked the court to declare illegitimate actions of Yarmoshyna in his application to the CEC and compel her to examine his application collegially, and not individually.
The matter concerns the application of Harry Pahanyajla to the CEC of October 20, where he offered members of the CEC not to register the initiative group of Alyaksandr Lukashenka. However, the address to the CEC members included detailed justification of legal grounds on which A. Lukashenka does not have a right to run for the fourth term.
Having received a negative decision of the court of Maskouski district of Minsk on October 13, issued by judge Husakova, Harry Pahanyajla in his turn wrote another intermediate order to the court actions. As said by him, his application returned back to the court of Maskouski district, and this time proceedings are to be initiated probably. Moreover, other lawyers of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee who sent analogous appeals to the CEC and received similar answers, went to the court.
According to Harry Pahanyajla, “trying to maintain power unconstitutionally, Lukashenka in fact has committed a constitutional coup, and our liberal constitution happened to become toppled.” Every citizen of the country has a right to defend the constitutional system, as it is a part of one’s rights defence, and in fact self-defence, the human rights activist says.
“Politicians are to take decisions, including unconstitutional ones. But the nation have a right to defend the Constitution by any means, it results from the Constitution itself. We all have a right for self-defence,” Pahanyajla said.
