Special Focus Cases
Zmitser Dashkevich, Prisoner of Conscience
BELARUS
UPDATE: Zmitser Dashkevich was freed from prison on January 23, 2008.A leader of the youth-based opposition group, Young Front, Zmitser Dashkevich was freed from Sklou prison two months early of the completion of an 18-month prison sentence for "organizing or participating in activities of an unregistered organization."
 Zmitser Dashkevich © ByMedia.net |
As leader of the youth opposition organization Young Front, Zmitser Dashkevich’s efforts to bring about greater freedom for the people of Belarus cost him his own.
Authorities charged Zmitser Dashkevich in September 2006 under Article 193 of the Belarusian Criminal Code, with “organizing and running an unregistered organization that infringes the rights of citizens.” Article 193 had been added to the Criminal Code in the lead up to the presidential elections in March 2006. It was part of a series of amendments that enabled authorities to penalize civil society organizations and outspoken critics of the government.
Although hundreds of people, including opposition politicians, writers, diplomats and civil society activists, rallied outside the court in Minsk in November 2006 to call for the immediate release of Zmitser Dashkevich, the court sentenced Mr. Dashkevich to one and a half years' imprisonment. The closed trial lasted just two days. On December 15, 2006, the Minsk City Court denied an appeal made by Mr. Dashkevich’s lawyer, and the original sentence was upheld. Zmitser Dashkevich was transferred to a prison colony in Shklou in eastern Belarus, where he is now serving the remainder of his sentence.
Zmitser Dashkevich had previously been a prisoner of conscience following his arrest in April 2006 during a demonstration to mark the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. At that time he served two weeks in prison for “organizing an unsanctioned meeting.”
Amnesty International is calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Zmitser Dashkevich, whom it considers to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned solely for the peaceful exercise of his rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression.
Zmitser Dashkevich’s plight is emblematic of the broader problem of harassment and intimidation faced by civil society activists as a whole in Belarus. Young Front has tried at least six times to register with the Belarusian authorities, but authorities have refused to officially recognize the group as a legitimate organization. Authorities have arrested increasing numbers of youth activists and charged them under the same article of the Belarusian Criminal Code that was used to imprison Zmitser Dashkevich. Article 193 is being used to clamp down on civil society activity and deny Belarusians their basic rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression.
BACKGROUND
Authorities in Belarus have repeatedly demonstrated their unwillingness to tolerate any form of criticism or political dissent, and they have waged a mounting campaign of harassment and intimidation against human rights defenders, civil society activists and political opposition figures.
Non-governmental organizations face stringent controls and checks on their activities. Many have been closed or prevented from formally registering. Authorities have detained peaceful civil society activists under Article 193 of the Criminal Code which was amended in 2005 to include a prison sentence of up to three years for “organizing and running an unregistered organization that infringes the rights of citizens.”
Amnesty International regards the continuing harassment and detention of opposition figures and those involved in civil society activity as a deliberate attempt by the authorities to intimidate and deter people from exercising their fundamental rights to freedom of assembly, association and expression.
