Another attempt to put Sannikov’s jailers on trial

Sannikov’s lawyers have filed a lawsuit in court for preventing them to access their client.

As the wife of the former candidate, Iryna Khalip, informed, Andrei Sannikov’s lawyers are making attempts to take an appeal from the actions of officials who hindered meetings with the client.

On January 31 the lawyers lodged a complaint to Mahilyou court concerning hindering meetings with the client while he was kept in Mahilyou prison.

“We have a application of the lawyer who asked a meeting with Sannikov and the decision of Alyaksandr Lamaza (the governor of Mahilyou prison Nr 4) to deny, as Sannikov is a transit prisoner. There is also an answer of the Prosecutor’s office of Mahilyou which refuses to grant a meeting as Sannikov had not applied for such a meeting, and an answer from the Corrections Department of the Interior Ministry that no reasonable grounds for necessity of a meeting with the lawyer had been offered,” Khalip said to BelaPAN.

She reminded that an analogous lawsuit had been lodged to Vitsebsk regional court against actions of Vitsba-3 penal colony administration, where Sannikov is kept now, however the court dismissed the complaint. “I understand the situation will be the same in Mahilyou, but we cannot be inactive. Ad in the future when all these documents would be reconsidered, we should have concrete facts,” the wife of the politician explained.

Besides, as said by Khalip, in the next few days a complaint would be filed to the Prosecutor General’s Office against actions of Vitsba-3c colony administration, the Corrections Department of the Interior Ministry, the Vitsebsk division of the Corrections Department, as well as the prosecutor of Vitsebsk region and his principle deputy. “They all are those who had been spotted due to their formal replies to the lawyers’ complaints against violations of Sannikov’s right for legal assistance,” said the wife of the former presidential candidate.

We remind that on January 24 Iryna Khalip was allowed to meet with her husband after an interruption of four months. On the next day she called a press-conference ad informed that after tortures Sannikov was forced to sign a petition for clemency addressed to Lukashenka.