Our Small Victories Are To Bring Belarus Closer To Freedom

The UN supports the struggle for democracy in our country.

On December 8, Homel lawyer Leanid Sudalenka received a report on the registration of an individual complaint BLR (245) 3056/2017 of a well-known activist from Minsk, Volha Nikalaichyk, in the UN Human Rights Committee. At the international level, the activist declares systematic persecution and violation of the rights to express freely her own opinion during peaceful assemblies, gomelspring.org writes.

Now the Belarusian government will have to pursue answers why the state persecutes its citizens only because they express their opinions on various problems of public life.

We remind that Volha Nikalaichyk was repeatedly brought to administrative responsibility in the form of large fines for the participation in various unauthorized protests in Minsk in 2016. The total annual amount of fines was 2940 rubles or 1500 US dollars.

On March 23, 2016, Eduard Matskevich, a judge of the Tsentralny district court of Minsk, inflicted Volha the maximum penalty of 10,050,000 non-redenominated rubles only for taking part, along with others, in the picket on Independence Avenue where she was holding a poster "Where Is Hanchar? Zakharanka? Krasouski? Zavadski? ". Later, Volha Nikalaichyk together with Maksim Viniarski placed that poster near the Victory Square monument in Minsk, and on June 13, Dzmitry Suprun, a judge of the Partyzanski District Court of Minsk, sentenced them to a fine of 8,400,000 non-redenominated rubles.

On August 25, 2016, Yuliya Kaviaka, a judge of the Leninski District Court of Minsk, also inflicted Volha the maximum penalty of 1,050 redenominated rubles for taking part in the picket together with others in support of a political prisoner, where she was holding a poster "Freedom To Palchys, You Are Trying Our History!"

"I'm very glad that at least someone in the world has an interest in our country. I hope that at the international level the Belarusian authorities will be given the evaluation which they truly deserve. With the help of such small cases, we will certainly bring our Belarus closer to freedom, to democracy. Special thanks to Leanid Sudalenka, who took up my case and brought it to the UN Human Rights Committee," – Volha Nikalaichyk commented.