Belarus tightens lawyers

WARSAW, Aug 23 (Reuters) – Belarusian lawyer Mikhail Kirilyuk says he received a disturbing text message in October from an acquaintance linked to the country’s security services.

The acquaintance urged Kirilyuk, who had defended anti-government protesters and publicly criticized the government of President Alexander Lukashenko, to leave the country. According to Kirilyuk, who said the text was sent via an encrypted messaging app and described its contents to Reuters, the message also contained a warning: the lawyer faced arrest and revocation of his license to practice law.

Kirilyuk left that month with his parents and young children in Poland, which has long criticized Lukashenko. In February, the justice ministry revoked Kirilyuk’s license, according to an April Minsk court document related to his failed appeal. The ministry said in a February press release that Kirilyuk had made “unacceptable” public statements containing “rude” and “tactless” comments about state representatives, without identifying them.

Speaking to Reuters in Warsaw, Kirilyuk, 38, said he believed the action against him was politically motivated by who he had represented and his public critical comments. He said he left because he “did not want to be arrested” and that he will not return home until Lukashenko is out of office.

Kirilyuk’s account fits with what more than half a dozen Belarusian lawyers, as well as international organizations representing the profession and human rights groups, say is a pattern of intimidation and suppression of lawyers by Belarusian authorities. These actions include criminal and disciplinary proceedings against lawyers and disruption, they say.

Seven lawyers interviewed by Reuters claim their licenses were revoked after defending protesters, protesting against authorities or resisting what they said was pressure on their profession. Several of them allege that authorities oversaw confidential customer meetings or obstructed their work. Reuters could not independently confirm its claims or the text message described by Kirilyuk.

Lukashenko’s office did not respond to requests for comment. The president, in March, said the legal profession needed to be “put in order”, according to comments published in the state-controlled Belarus Today newspaper.

The justice ministry, in response to questions from Reuters, said its oversight of the legal profession is implemented in accordance with “the principle of defense independence and non-interference in the professional activities of lawyers. defenders “.

He said that the statements of lawyers discharged about the persecution of the profession and the interference by the Ministry of Justice “are not supported by facts and documents, are unfounded and are based on the statements of the offenders themselves.”

The ministry said it has the power to terminate legal licenses in the circumstances stipulated by law. He added that decisions to terminate the licenses of several lawyers this year were made because they had committed “serious violations of licensing law,” license requirements and conditions, or for engaging in conduct that “discredits” the licensing profession. lawyer. He did not name the lawyers, but said he included Reuters’ questions in his questions.

Authorities in this former Soviet state have carried out widespread crackdown on dissent since last August, when the longtime president declared himself the winner in an election that many Western countries considered fraudulent. Targets included opposition politicians, activists and the media. In an episode that hit the West, a plane flying over Belarus was landed in May and a dissident journalist on board was arrested.

On August 9, the first anniversary of the contested elections, Lukashenko said he won the vote fairly and saved Belarus from a violent revolt. At a press conference in the Minsk capital, the president said an Olympic sprinter, who left Poland for the Tokyo Olympics, had been “manipulated” by outside forces.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), a Paris-based non-governmental organization, at least 23 Belarusian lawyers have been ruled out. The federation said Belarus has in the past used retaliatory measures against lawyers; what was new, FIDH said, is “the scale of repression” and that now included criminal actions.

The ruin of all the lawyers except one identified by FIDH has been confirmed by statements on the website of the Ministry of Justice or the state agency Belta. The other lawyer confirmed to Reuters that his license had been revoked.

This figure includes three lawyers whom the Ministry of Justice of 11 August said had been disenfranchised because they had exercised their professional functions “incorrectly” and who showed “an unsatisfactory level of knowledge of the legislation needed to carry out carry out the task of defense “.

A new law passed by Lukashenko, 66, in June states, among other things, that only candidates approved by the justice ministry can practice law, which some lawyers say is intended to control their profession.

Until now, bar associations chose participants in compulsory internships and all candidates had to pass the bar exam before becoming a lawyer. Under the new law, the ministry of justice coordinates the composition of inmates and people who have been members of the police or other investigative bodies, if they are appointed by their respective state institutions, they only need to spend three months practices and take an oral exam to become a lawyer.

Justice Minister Oleg Slizhevsky has said that the aim of the new law, which will come into force later this year, is to increase the quality of legal professionals and improve their defense.

CRIMINAL CHARGES

Massive street protests ravaged Belarus after Lukashenko won victory in last summer’s presidential election. The unrest was the biggest challenge for his government since he took office in 1994. Authorities responded with a sometimes violent crackdown on protesters; many political opponents were arrested or exiled. The response sparked Western sanctions.

Belarusian authorities have described police actions as appropriate and necessary.

A key moment for some lawyers and rights activists was the September arrest of lawyers Maxim Znak and Illia Salei. They represented Maria Kolesnikova, one of the leaders of the mass street protests.

Earlier this month, Znak and Kolesnikova were prosecuted on criminal charges of extremism and attempting to seize power. They both deny the charges.

Authorities accused attorney Salei of making public calls to action to harm national security. Salei, who denies the offenses, is on probation while the investigation continues, according to his father, who acts as a lawyer.

Two more lawyers representing the protest leader Kolesnikova were dismissed.

Znak’s lawyer, Siarhej Zikratski, lost his license in March after appearing in a court set up by the justice ministry to examine aspiring lawyers who could decide on dismissing existing ones.

Zikratski said the panel collects information about media interviews for lawyers, posts on social media and the petitions they have signed. The lawyer added that during his appearance before the court, he questioned him about the media interviews he had granted him and specific parts of the Belarusian legal code.

“We discussed why I gave interviews to the media and why I had no right to speak,” Zikratski told Reuters in June from his current base, the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. He now represents the exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.

“PEOPLE WERE SCARED”

The United Nations has said that Belarusian lawyers dealing with politically sensitive human rights cases have been harassed and intimidated. In a May report, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Belarus said that interference with the work of lawyers was “systemic” and that they were often denied access to clients and were disrupted or detained. he was arrested.

Belarus, in response to a UN resolution citing the May report, said UN decisions have long been “not reflecting the real human rights situation in the world” and “serve as a pretext for the pressure and sanctions of the collective West against the states that do. ” do not obey his dictates “.

Kirilyuk specialized in commercial law. But after security forces began detaining people in mass protests, he and other lawyers faced a deluge of investigations by people seeking legal aid, he said. “We had 10, 20, 30 or 50 calls a day because people were scared. They had been tortured in prison and didn’t know what to do,” Kirilyuk said.

Kirilyuk said she took on cases related to the protests, including that of Yelena Leuchanka, a Belarusian basketball star who was arrested by authorities after she took part in protests calling for Lukashenko’s resignation. Leuchanka was sentenced in September to 15 days in prison for taking part in protests demanding the president’s resignation.

Kirilyuk said police refused to tell him where Leuchanka was detained; he and his colleagues had to call the police stations before tracking her down in a Minsk detention center. The lawyer said she was initially denied access to her client and then only had ten minutes with her before her court appearance.

Reuters could not independently confirm Kirilyuk’s allegations about torture or the details of Leuchanka’s case.

The interior ministry, which oversees police, referred questions to the foreign ministry. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to any requests for comment.

During a visit to another detained client in August last year, Kirilyuk said he noticed a camera during what was to be a confidential meeting. When the lawyer’s COVID-19 mask slipped under his nose, a phone rang in the room, and when he answered, a voice told him to push it again, he dir Kirilyuk.

He said these tactics have a creepy effect. “It’s such a simple way to show you that‘ we listen to you, we watch you and everything you say to your client is on camera, ’” Kirilyuk said.

Reports by Joanna Plucinska in Warsaw, Matthias Williams in Kiev and Andrius Sytas in Vilnius; additional reports by Natalia Zinets in Kiev, Dmitriy Turlyun in Moscow and Robert Muller in Prague; written by Matthias Williams and Andrew Osborn Edited by Cassell Bryan-Low

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