belarus executive summary - US Department of State

BELARUS 9
to the Minsk diplomatic corps. At a press conference on October 7, Lukashenka
stated that police apprehended Manayeu over alleged possession of drugs;
however, he subsequently was released without charge.
On October 8, opposition and trade union leaders staged rallies called “people’s
assemblies” across the country to protest the government’s ineffective economic
policies. Prior to the event police detained and warned a number of activists
against participating in unsanctioned rallies. On October 13, police detained
Viktar Ivashkevich, the main organizer of the assemblies. Following a seven-hour
hearing, a Minsk district court fined him 1.4 million rubles ($169) for violating
mass events regulations.
Pretrial Detention: Authorities may hold a criminal suspect for up to 10 days
without filing formal charges. Prior to being charged, the law provides detainees
with no access to their families or to food and medical supplies from outside the
detention facility. In an effort to maximize pressure on such detainees, police
routinely held persons for the full 10-day period before charging them.
Police often detained individuals for several hours, ostensibly to confirm their
identity, and then released them without charges. Police and security forces
frequently used this tactic to detain members of the opposition and demonstrators,
to prevent the distribution of leaflets and newspapers, or as a pretext to break up
civil society meetings and events.
Following the December 2010 demonstrations, authorities detained a number of
leading supporters of opposition parties, including seven presidential candidates.
Five candidates subsequently were charged with and convicted of “organizing and
leading mass disturbances” or other charges. Authorities delayed pressing charges
for the maximum legal period of 10 days. A number initially were denied access
to their lawyers on the pretext that no rooms were available for such consultations.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
The constitution provides for an independent judiciary; however, Lukashenka and
his government did not respect judicial independence in practice. Corruption,
inefficiency, and political interference with judicial decisions were widespread.
Prosecutors and courts convicted individuals on false and politically motivated
charges, and senior leaders and local authorities dictated the outcomes of trials.
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2011
United States Department of State • Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor