By Terance Walsh
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
BARANAVICHY, Belarus — Rallies planned for October 16 in Baranavichy, Belarus in support of former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Yymoshenko have been quashed by local authorities.
Ryhor Hryk, member of the United Civic Party, received a letter from the local Baranavichy government saying that “the public gathering in Belarus to support…Tymoshenko could be construed by the Ukrainian government as interference in Ukraine’s internal affairs, and therefore cannot be held.” The city used the Mass Events Law to prohibit the demonstration.
Hryk blasted the decision of the Baranavichy authorities. He called the ban “absurd, because I am not calling on anyone to overthrow the legally elected government of Ukraine. I just want to express moral support for Yulia Tymoshenko.” Article 35 of the Belarusian constitution protects the right of Belarusian citizens to gather, march, and assemble. Hryk claims that these rights of Tymoshenko’s supporters are being trampled. He plans to file an appeal to the Baranavichy City Prosecutor’s Office. Hryk had visited Ukraine this year, attended Tymoshenko’s trial, and participated in demonstrations in Kiev.
This is not the first time Hryk has been banned from holding a public demonstration. In October 2009 he was arrested for protesting tax hikes on small businesses in Baranavichy.
Tymoshenko was tried for abuse of power after she brokered a 2009 gas deal with Russia that resulted in a $200 million loss in Ukraine’s budget. Amnesty International has decried the conviction as “politically motivated.”
Tymoshenko plans to appeal her conviction and seven-year prison sentence as Amnesty International calls for her release. Tymoshenko was openly defiant throughout the proceedings and called the conviction a “political lynching.”
The sentence drew harsh criticism form the United States and the European Union. Officials of the US and the EU have warned that the conviction will likely worsen relations with Ukraine.
In the meantime Tymoshenko and her family are trying to alleviate her prison sentence. The international community has put pressure on Ukraine to refrain from imposing a punishment that is driven by politics. Tuesday’s sentence has placed in jeopardy Ukrane’s free trade agreements and the prospect of joining the EU. The west has set a sort of deadline for October 20 to reform the sentence. The Ukranian Parliament is set to convene on October 18 to discuss the decriminalization of the offense for which Tymoshenko is charged.
“All the signals indicate that before the 20th something should happen,” Tymoshenko’s daughter, Yevhenia Carr, said, “The result of the trial is already a big mistake, a big kind of technical error. It’s just the story of one person’s revenge.”
Tymoshenko has persuaded women in prison to start exercising and stop smoking. She has also immersed herself in the Bible as a way to focus her attention on anything but politics. Despite all the turmoil Carr believes her mother will one day be president of Ukraine.
For more information please see:
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — Amnesty International Repeats Call For Tymoshenko Release — 13 October 2011
NY Times — Tymoshenko To Be Freed Soon, Daughter Says — 12 October 2011
Naviny — Authorities in Baranavichy Ban Opposition Activists From Demonstrating In Support Of Ukraine’s Ex-PM Tymoshenko — 11 October 2011
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty — Belarusian Activists Banned From Holding Rally For Tymoshenko — 11 October 2011
Charter ’97 — Baranavichy Businessmen Cracked Down For Protest Rallies — 2 October 2009
