BHC lost case to Justice Ministry

The Supreme Court has not granted the appeal of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee.

The human rights activists appealed against the official warning issued to them by the Justice Ministry. The grounds for it were tax violations, as officials said, the European Radio for Belarus informs.

The conflict between the tax inspection and the BHC human rights watchdogs lasts since 2004. The tax inspection believes that the BHC must pay taxes from the humanitarian aid received under TACIS programme. And the human rights activists referred to the Belarusian laws which exempted them from these taxes.

The current warning of the Justice Ministry is the second for the BHC within a year. It means that in a month officials can file a suit and apply for liquidation of the Belarusian Helsinki Committee.