Paris-Geneva,
January 6, 2023 - On
January 6, 2023, Yekaterina Yanshina, a Russian human rights defender
and journalist, was sentenced to 15 days administrative arrest on
petty hooliganism charges in Minsk after she attended a hearing in
the trial of Human Rights Center “Viasna” leaders. Yanshina had
flown to Minsk to support her fellow human rights defenders on trial.
Ten organisations strongly condemn the arbitrary detention of
Yanshina and call for her immediate and unconditional release as well
as the end of the judicial harassment against her and all human
rights defenders in the country.
On
January 5, 2023, Yekaterina
Yanshina,
who is collaborating with the prominent Russian organisation Human
Rights Defence Center “Memorial” (Memorial), a member of FIDH and
a winner of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize, went to Belarus to cover
developments in the
prosecution
of Human Rights Center “Viasna” leaders Ales
Bialiatski,
Valiantsin
Stefanovich
and Uladzimir
Labkovich.
Their trial began on January 5 at 11 a.m. (Belarus time) in the
Leninsky District Court in Minsk. At 5 p.m., at the end of the first
day of hearings, as Yanshina was leaving the courtroom, several law
enforcement officials, including bailiffs and alleged KGB officers,
detained her.
The
bailiffs claimed that Yanshina was disrupting the hearing by
allegedly taking pictures and broadcasting the proceedings online.
The officials told Yanshina that they needed to check her phone and
they would take her to the Maskouski District Police Department in
Minsk, to "draft a document." The law enforcement officers
took Yanshina to one of the courtrooms "for a conversation."
Others present at the hearing were not allowed to follow them into
this courtroom. For example, Memorial co-chair Oleg
Orlov,
who was also at the hearing, was not allowed to accompany Yanshina
and law enforcement officials threatened him with violence should he
attempt to do so.
Once
in the other courtroom, the officials were able to lead Yanshina out
of the court building through a second exit. Orlov was not able to
see her leave the building. When Orlov arrived at the Maskouski
District Police Department, the police officers denied Yanshina was
there. Her whereabouts remained unknown until the next morning.
On
January 6, 2023, at 8:30 a.m., Yanshina’s colleagues learned that
she had in fact been detained at the Okrestina Detention Centre in
Minsk overnight, awaiting trial on an administrative offence.
According to the case file, Yanshina behaved “defiantly” in court
and refused to introduce herself, thus the law enforcement officers
“invited” her for a conversation at the police precinct. At the
precinct, she allegedly used obscene language and was otherwise
offensive towards the law enforcement officials.
The
same day, at 2:30 p.m., her case was heard by Judge Tattsyana Matyl
in the Maskouski District Court of Minsk. Yanshina was not physically
present in the courtroom, and was not allowed to speak with her
lawyer privately but only allowed to communicate with the judge over
Skype from
the detention facility hallway. Oleg Orlov reported that he heard
other people talking in the background. The
judge ruled that Yanshina be detained for 15 days on “petty
hooliganism” charges, under Article 19.1 of the Code of
Administrative Offences.
The
signatory organisations strongly condemn the arbitrary arrest and
detention of Yekaterina Yanshina which aims solely to punish her for
her legitimate and peaceful human rights work, and call for her
immediate and unconditional release. The signatory organisations
further call for the end of the judicial harassment against her, and
all other human rights defenders in the country, including Viasna
members currently facing trial and arbitrary detention
The
signatory organisations further reiterate their support to Viasna and
all its members and urge Belarusian authorities to fully abide by
their international human rights obligations, as well as to respect
and protect the work of human rights defenders and organisations and
ensure they can work without reprisal or intimidation.
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