By Alexandra Sandacz
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia – Nearly 5,000 Slovenians gathered in Ljubljana, despite heavy rain, to protest against the country’s political powers and demanded government changes.

A Facebook group was created in November to demand the resignation of Janez Jansa, leader of the centre-right government. With over 18,000 followers, the Facebook group stated, “We demand the resignations of all incapable and corrupted political elite members.”

The group also demanded the prime minister designate, Alenka Bratusek, to set an early date for elections as soon as she officially takes office.

The protest movement followed various corruption allegations against Jansa over the struggling economy and austerity measures that resulted in declining living standards and unemployment rise.

Furthermore, Jansa’s government started to fall after three of the five parties quit his Cabinet because the prime minister was accused of corruption. He allegedly failed to declare $285,000 of his personal assets.

Protesters carried banners that said, “We do not want a new government but revolutionary changes” and “There will be no peace until there is justice.” Another banner stated, “We are not right and we are not left but we are the people who are sick of you.”

Moreover, protesters placed stickers that said, “This is our property” all over the central bank building and other public institutions.

One protester, Gorazd Mlekuz, who works in transport, said, “The incoming government has the same structure, the same principles as the old one, so we need a new election and we have to vote out the parties that are in parliament at present. We need to create jobs for the young. My son, who is a historian, was an excellent student but there is no job for him. He works as a volunteer now and he was lucky to get even that.”

Another protester, a 21-year-old social science student, said, “I’m protesting because life in Slovenia is getting worse, there is more and more poverty and people are not equal. The government scrapped my scholarship last year so I can only get by with the help of my parents, but I am worried that even an early election might not bring any improvement.”

Despite the corruption allegations, Jansa continues to praise his austerity program and stated he believed the allegations were merely politically motivated to weaken his administration.

He warned that the nation could face bankruptcy after his unseating. He stated, “Greece is slowly turning to recovery, I would be happy to say the same for Slovenia.”

While Slovenia struggles to avoid an international bailout, parliament nominated budget expert, Alenka Bratusek, of the center-left Positive Slovenia to form a new government. If she fails to form a new government soon, Slovenia could face early elections for the second time in less than two years.

For further information, please see:

AFP – Thousands of Slovenians Demand More Changes, Early Vote – 9 March 2013

Aljazeera – Slovenians Take to Streets Against Corruption – 9 March 2013

Reuters – Protests In Slovenia Continue Despite Government’s Fall – 9 March 2013

Inquirer News – Slovenia’s Troubled Government Ousted – 28 February 2013

By Madeline Schiesser
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

MINSK, Belarus – When Lyubou Kavalyova’s son was executed last March, all she received from the authorities was a letter from the Belarusian Supreme Court containing his death certificate.  A year later, Mrs. Kavalyova still does not know the whereabouts of her son’s remains because of an article in Belarus’ Criminal Executive Code that allows the government to not communicate the burial place of those executed to their relatives.

Mrs. Kavalyova’s son, Uladzslau Kavalyou, and his friend, Dzmitry Kanavalau, both born in 1986, were executed last year in Belarus after having been sentenced to death for an April 2011 subway bombing in Minsk that killed 15 people and wounded more than 300, and two earlier bombings.

Independent investigators, including some from Russia, expressed serious doubts about the evidence used to convict the men.  Their trial was also heavily criticized for failing to meet international fair trial standards.

Mrs. Kavalyova announced at a press conference in Minsk on Wednesday her hope that Belarusian authorities would release her son’s body as she marks the first anniversary since his execution.

Alternatively, according to human rights defender Rasman Kisliak, authorities should release the burial location of the men’s bodies.  Kisliak further explained that, “It is necessary to find out who had conducted the execution in order to plan future activities and find from whom to demand answers.”  He also spoke of plans to demand the annulment of the law under which relatives of deceased convicts are refused access to the body.

The family of Dzmitry Kanavalau has declined to communicate with the press, and human rights activists believe they have been intimidated into silence.  Activist Pavel Levinau claims “[T]he whole Kanavalaus family were arrested after the arrest of Dzmitry – an elder brother and the father. They were kept in custody, as far as I remember, for about three months. Only the mother remained free – a woman who was intimidated. I can only guess what psychological pressure was put on her. Probably psychological and physical pressure was put on other relatives of Dzmitry Kanavalau’s as well. Probably, they were even promised something if they keep silent.”

Belarus remains the only nation in Europe to still sentence people to death.  Prisoners are informed of their pending execution only hours, or even minutes in advance, and the executions are carried out with a shot to the back of the head.

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and a human rights violation. Failing to return the bodies of these two men compounds that cruelty,” said David Diaz-Jogeix, Amnesty International’s Deputy Director for Europe and Central Asia.

“The complete secrecy surrounding the death penalty denies families the opportunity to bury their relatives according to their traditions and religious beliefs . . . It is unacceptable that authorities in Belarus would not even reveal the burial site to the families, and ban them from saying goodbye to their loved ones,” he further stated.

On Friday, Russia rejected Amnesty International’s request to demonstrate against executions in front of the Belarusian Embassy in Moscow.  Although authorities offered Amnesty International two alternative sites to hold the demonstration, Amnesty International rejected them as remote and having nothing to do with the subject of the protest.

For further information, please see:

Chapter’97 – Pavel Levinau: Kanavalau’s Family Does Not Get in Touch Because of Threats of Special Services – 15 March 2013

RFE/RL – Amnesty International Refused Permission For Belarus Embassy Protest In Moscow – 15 March 2013

Viasna – A Year Has Passed Since the Execution of Kanavalau and Kavaliou: Human Rights Defenders Put New Questions – 15 March 2013

Amnesty International – Belarus: After Death, the Cruelty Continues as Bodies of Two Executed Men Still Hidden – 14 March 2013

RFE/RL – Mother Of Belarusian Executed For Terrorism Wants Son’s Body – 13 March 2013