Press Release: Trade Union leaders found guilty of tax evasion after a sham trial

Paris-Geneva, August 24, 2018 – Henadz Fiadynich andIhar Komlik have been found guilty of tax evasion charges today by the SavieckiDistrict Court of Minsk. Charges were brought againstthem a year after the trade union helped to mobilize protests againstPresidential Decree No. 3 that established a fee on the unemployed. TheObservatory’s judicial observation mission reports that the politicallymotivated trial fell well short of providing the essential fair trialguarantees to the defendants and calls for their conviction to be quashed.

Thetrial started on July 30, 2018, and took place in the Saviecki District Courtof Minsk before Judge Maryna Fiodarava. Messrs. Henadz Fiadynich and IharKomlik, respectively Chairman and Chief Accountant of the BelarusianIndependent Trade Union of Radio and Electronic Industry Workers (REP), werecharged under Article 243.2 of the Criminal Code for “Tax evasion on a largescale”. The latter provision was previously used to prosecute Chairman of theHuman Rights Centre “Viasna” Ales Bialiatski, who spent three years inprison in 2011-2014. The UN Human Rights Committee found his imprisonmentarbitrary since national legislation and decisions of the Belarusianauthorities made it impossible for "Viasna" to operate legally inBelarus. Legislation abusively restricting the operation of civil societyorganisations remains in force to date, forcing many organisations to registerabroad.

Thegovernment’s complaint charged that between 2011 and 2012, Messrs. Fiadynichand Komlik conspired to receive transfers of foreign funding into a bankaccount in Vilnius, Lithuania, and to withdraw and transport cash back toBelarus with the help of co-workers and colleagues, without having reportedthese receipts to the authorities.

Todaythe Court issued its judgement, finding the defendants guilty of all chargesand sentencing them to 4 years of restriction of liberty without imprisonment,as well as a fine.

“This trial made for a captivating spectacle,with a surprise revelation of a paid KGB informant among its highlights,but it also made a mockery of justice”,said lawyer Ilya Nuzov, Head of FIDH’s Eastern Europe and Central Asia Desk,who observed the proceedings. “Therewas hardly any testimony or other evidence relevant to the incriminated period,and the authorities fabricated practically the entire evidentiary baseunderlying the judgment, confirming the political nature of the case.”

Trialobservation revealed major flaws in the conduct of pre-trial investigation andproceedings. During the trial, at least six of the witnesses examined by theparties complained that their pre-trial statements were procured throughthreats, intimidation and other pressure exerted by State agents during initialquestioning. While Judge Fiodarava ordered an investigation of theseallegations mid-way through the trial, this inquiry lacked independence andthoroughness capable of effectively determining any wrongful conduct on behalfof the authorities.

Moreover,the prosecution’s case was built around key pieces of evidence, includingunauthenticated bank records from a Lithuanian bank, and information about thebank account and cash flows from foreign organisations procured using anunknown email account. State witnesses refused to provide any specificinformation regarding how this evidence was collected, referring in generalterms to the course of ‘investigative work.’ These facts weigh heavily againstthe lawfulness and reliability of such evidence, as well as the ability ofMessrs. Komlik and Fiyadynich to prepare an adequate defense.

TheObservatory believes that these actions by the authorities violate Belarus’obligations under international human rights law and its own Constitution, andthat the convictions should therefore be vacated.

The Observatory for the Protectionof Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and theWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme isto intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rightsdefenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu , the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

For more information, pleasecontact:

• FIDH: Ilya Nuzov (English / Russian) - +33 1 43 55 25 18 - inuzov@fidh.org
• OMCT: Delphine Reculeau / Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui (French / English / Spanish) - +41 228 09 49 39