BRATISLAVA, November 24, (WEBNOVINY) — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic With has issued a statement on Thursday concerning the sentencing of another human rights activist in Belarus. According to the statement, it received with regret and indignation the news about the sentencing Belarusian human rights activist Ales Bialiacky for a prison term of four and a half years. According to the Slovak diplomacy department, the decision of the court is a continuation of ongoing pressure on civil society after manipulated presidential elections in December 2010. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs considers the verdict unjust and believes it will be reviewed in accordance with principles of the rule of law, the press department at the Slovak Foreign Affairs Ministry wrote in its statement made available to SITA agency.
On Thursday, a Belarusian court sentenced prominent human rights activist Ales Bialiacky for four and a half years in prison for alleged tax evasion. The court also ordered confiscation of all property of the non-governmental organization Viasna (Spring) which he led. Diplomats from the EU as well as the United States attended the court proceedings. Bialiacky’s lawyer Dmitry Layevsky already said they would appeal the verdict. The case has an international dimension as Bialiacky was arrested in August also based on information which Minsk received from Poland and Lithuania. Authorities accused him of tax evasion as he transferred bank accounts of Viasna, after it was banned in Belarus, to foreign banks. According to the prosecution, he did not pay Belarus income tax amounting to 567,000 euros.
SITA
