CAT/C/40/D/311/2007
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published literature against the regime in place; the materials were printed in the Russian
Federation and all payments transited through the company’s bank accounts. According to
him, from the mid-1998, the authorities started to persecute him, and allegedly a criminal
case was opened against him, on an unspecified date, for organisation of disorders, anti-State
propaganda, discrediting the authority. This case was subsequently closed.
2.2 The complainant claims that in October 1998, the Belarus authorities had issued him
with a foreign passport and asked him to leave the country for Ukraine. He refused and
continued to participate in demonstrations and to disseminate printed materials. During a
picket in Vitebsk on 18 November 1999, he was allegedly arrested by the police and placed
in custody; he was released on 8 February 2000. Allegedly, during the initial interrogation, he
was beaten by an investigator, as he refused to provide information on his activities. He also
suffered from the overcrowding of the detention centre (there were only 10 beds for 20-25
detainees), and was unable to sleep there because the light was permanently kept turned on.
His inmates, ordinary criminals, threatened and beat him because he was a political detainee.
He also claims that he suffered from a sexual assault1 by other inmates during his detention.
He contends that the inmates had received orders from the police to intimidate him.
2.3 After his release, the complainant moved to Ukraine. In September 2000, he became a
member of the Ukrainian party RUKH. In March 2002, he acted as RUKH electoral observer.
He allegedly discovered a number of irregularities and informed the party leadership. Shortly
afterwards, he was arrested by the police. According to him, the police advised him not to
carry out any political activity in Ukraine. He was asked to sign a record in relation to his
arrest and a declaration that he did not have complaints against the police. He considered that
the record did not reflect the circumstances of arrest and refused to sign it. As a result, he was
allegedly threatened and beaten, to the point that he had lost consciousness.
2.4 In July 2002, he was asked by RUKH to investigate the death of an eminent party
member (the Mayor of the city of Khmelnitsky). The complainant concluded that it had been
a murder. Shortly afterwards, he allegedly received threats to his life by the Security services.
Afraid, he left Ukraine on 25 November 2002, arrived in Switzerland on 28 November 2002,
and requested political asylum.
2.5 His asylum request was rejected on 14 May 2003 by the Federal Office for the
Refugees (ODR). The complainant appealed to the Asylum Review Board (CRA) on 11 June
2003. His appeal was rejected on 15 November 2006. On 21 November 2006, he was ordered
to leave the country before 15 January 2007.
2.6 In a subsequent submission, dated 3 April 2007, the complainant explained that he had
presented a request for the renunciation of his nationality to the Belarus Embassy in
Switzerland.
2.7 On an unspecified date, he appealed to the Federal Administrative Tribunal. On 7
January 2008, the complainant submitted a copy of a decision of the Federal Administrative
Tribunal of 28 February 2007, by which the Tribunal refused to examine his appeal as he had
not made his submission in an official language of the Swiss Confederation and given that he
had not paid the administrative fee (1200 CHF). He claims that he is unable to pay the fee,
1
In his initial submission, the complainant only mentioned that while in detention, he was
threatened with a sexual assault.