CCPR/C/116/D/2198/2012
1.2
On 8 October 2012, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on new
communications and interim measures, decided not to issue a request for interim measures
under rule 92 of the Committee’s rules of procedure.
1.3
On 26 November 2014, the Committee, acting through its Special Rapporteur on
new communications and interim measures, decided under rule 97, paragraph 3 of its rules
of procedure to accede to the State party’s request to examine the admissibility of the
communication separately from its merits.
The facts as presented by the author
2.1
In December 1995, the author was arrested and detained in a pretrial detention
facility (SIZO) in Minsk. During his arrest, police officers in civilian clothing subjected the
author to ill-treatment. In particular, his right wrist was dislocated and his spine, in the area
of the neck, was injured. On an unspecified date, he was officially charged with having
committed crimes under articles 150, paragraph 2 (defraud); 209 (fraud); 210 (theft); 221
(forgery); and 427 (abuse of authority) of the Belarus Criminal Code.
2.2
During his detention in a short-term detention facility, as well as in the SIZO, where
he was eventually held for 18 months, the author was subjected to inhuman and degrading
treatment. During the first few weeks in SIZO detention, he did not have access to a lawyer.
During so-called “conversations” in the absence of a lawyer, the author was put under
pressure and threatened in order to elicit statements. The author was denied communication
with his family. He was also threatened that, if he refused to confess guilt, he would not be
brought before a judge for a long period of time. The author further notes that he was not
provided adequate medical assistance, although he contracted a number of illnesses. He was
threatened that, if he continued to complain about that, he would be subjected to physical
ill-treatment. In addition, the detention conditions were inhumane. His cell was
overcrowded, sometimes he had to sleep on the floor, the bed linen was worn out and
mattresses were full of lice, and the temperature could reach up to 40ºC in summer.
2.3
The author was released from the SIZO in April 1997, after he promised that he
would not leave the country.
2.4. On 4 September 2001, the Court of the Oktyabrsk District in Minsk found the author
guilty of having committed a crime under articles 427 (abuse of authority) and 150,
paragraph 2 (defraud), of the Criminal Code, and sentenced him to one year and four
months of imprisonment, a period that he had already served while in pretrial detention.
The author was acquitted of the remaining charges.
2.5
Having felt helpless and suspecting that the authorities had persecuted him because
of his opposition to the regime in place, the author decided to leave the country and moved
to the Russian Federation in September 2001, where he has been living ever since.
However, he continued to visit his relatives, his medical doctors and employees of some
local municipality institutions in Belarus. In 2005, he married a citizen of the Russian
Federation; they have two children.
2.6
On 2 or 3 September 2011, the author was arrested by the authorities of the Russian
Federation, as his name appeared on a list of internationally wanted individuals. He was
informed that the judgment of 4 September 2001 had been reviewed on appeal and that, on
29 March 2004, the Court of the Sovetsky District in Minsk had found him guilty in
absentia of having committed crimes in Belarus and that an extradition request had been
issued by the authorities of that country. The author submits that he was not aware that the
criminal proceedings in his case had been reopened and that, on 29 March 2004, the court
in Minsk had convicted him in absentia under articles 209 (fraud), 210 (theft) and 221
(forgery) of the Belarus Criminal Code and had sentenced him to eight years and six
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