A year after the rigged presidential elections in Belarus which led to mass protest and repressive measures from the authorities, the opposition is adamant that it will not be cowered

"When [those who persecute us] find out and see that it’s not just some inexplicable opposition supporter whom you can give the order to “squeeze”, and that it’s really a person whom others remember and who get letters from all over the world – that totally changes their attitude.”

They call it “a brutal, cynical and demonstrative act of reprisal against an opponent of the system, coated in the form of a court ruling”.

They are asking that the Council of Europe look into the flagrant violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms during the events in St Petersburg on 3 March 2007. These violations particularly concerned freedom of peaceful assembly and security of person

A festival is to take place from14-25 March in Kyiv entitled “Belarusian Spring” and is timed to coincide with the anniversary of “Belarusian Maidan” [the mass protest on October Square in Minsk after the presidential elections]

The Russian scientist Igor Sutyagin, recognized a political prisoner by Amnesty International, has been transferred to the camp punishment cell [SHIZO] for three months

As feared, a Russian court has ordered the transfer to a harsher regime colony of Mikhail Trepashkin, believed by many to be serving a four-year service for his efforts to uncover the real culprits of the 1999 apartment block bombings in Moscow.

Mikhail Trepashkin, Russian lawyer serving a sentence on trumped up and absurd charges, pressed after his investigation into the apartment bombings in 1999 in Moscow, needs the attention of the world. Every political prisoner ignored convinces the Russian authorities that they can act with impunity!

Her arrest signals that Uzbekistan has become more sophisticated at silencing journalists and public activists, the joint statement by the 14 groups said. It cited several criminal prosecutions of journalists and human rights activists in the past year.

After more than 18 months in custody under threat of being extradited to Uzbekistan on trumped up charges of being involved in the uprising in Andijon, the “Ivanovo Uzbeks” are to be released, although the Russian Prosecutor General’s extradition order, halted by Strasbourg, remains in force

The Belarusians have specially arrived from Minsk in order to draw attention to the lack of access to justice in their own country

When arbitrary rule reigns in the country, when a managed “justice system” is used as a baton for reprisals, and when the law becomes mere decoration, each courtroom where a political trial is underway turns into a fight for truth and justice. Often this battle is unequal, but this is all the more reason to express our solidarity with those who defend victims of political persecution.

Having lost faith in achieving justice and adherence to the law in Belarus, they have decided to turn for support to the international community. On the eve of Lukashenko’s visit to Ukraine, the women are hoping to draw attention to violations of human rights in Belarus.

Thomas Hammerberg said that he had become convinced that people were being tortured to force them to sign confessions to crimes they didn’t commit, and stressed that this was an “entire system, and not just isolated cases”

The individuals against whom the personal sanctions have been imposed include the Prosecutor General Pyotr Milashevich and the Minister of Information Vladimir Rusakevich whom Washington considers implicated in the undermining of democracy in Belarus

The “Ivanovo Uzbeks” have been in custody for more than 18 months now. In a week the Russian Government is due to explain to the European Court of Human Rights how it ensures (or doesn’t) adherence to regulations on remand in custody.

As a method of dealing with the thousands of applications by Russian nationals forced to seek justice at the European Court of Human Rights, this would hardly seem the most constructive …

Chechens are today, 23 February, honouring the memory of those who died as a result of the deportation of the entire Chechen and Ingush population in 1944. Ceremonies have been taking place throughout the day in mosques and in all populated areas of Chechnya.

Kosvintsev, regional correspondent for the newspaper “Novaya gazeta”* in the Kemerovsk region (Russian Federation) asked for political asylum in Ukraine on 6 February

A disagreement today between Crimean journalists and the press service of Moscow’s Mayor Yury Luzhkov over what questions could or couldn’t be asked reminded many journalists of a style they have (thankfully) become unaccustomed to