Politically Motivated Administrative Proceedings: Standards and Reality in Contemporary Belarus

  • by EECA
  • 1 April 2021

This report by Viasna HRC summarises the observation of administrative proceedings in politically motivated cases from the beginning of 2020 to the end of March 2021. The monitoring was carried out by members and volunteers of the Human Rights Center “Viasna”, while the analysis of every phase of administrative proceedings was provided by the organization’s lawyers and experts.

Reports from 44 observers on 590 court hearings in administrative cases in 17 courts of Belarus were analyzed, as well as information received from more than 600 persons detained in administrative cases from 38 cities of Belarus, which they provided to the HRC “Viasna”.

The obtained data were assessed both from the point of view of the fair trial standards enshrined in international treaties and other UN documents, to which Belarus is a party, and in terms of domestic legislation.

Earlier, issues of fair justice standards were highlighted by human rights defenders and experts in the report “Belarus. August 2020: “Justice” for Protesters”.