Minsk City Court rejected human rights activist’s latest appeal.
On Thursday, the Minsk City Court rejected an appeal by imprisoned human rights activist Alies Bialiacki against a late charge of 140.3 million Belarusian rubles ($17,500) that he was ordered to pay by a district judge in Minsk for allegedly evading taxes since 2008.
On March 29, court ordered Mr. Bialiacki, who is convicted of tax evasion in November 2011, to pay the charge and 7.1 million rubles in litigation costs at the request of the district tax office. Neither the family nor Mr. Bialiacki’s lawyer had been notified of the tax authorities’ suit.
In his tax evasion trial, Mr. Bialiacki was ordered to pay a total of 757.5 million rubles ($90,400) in back taxes, penalties and litigation costs after the prosecution had asked the presiding judge to adjust the amount of his alleged back taxes, estimated by it at 352.27 million rubles, for inflation.
Mr. Bialiacki’s associate, Valiancin Stefanovich, said that the judge in the activist’s tax evasion trial had illegitimately adjusted his alleged back taxes for inflation. National regulations do not allow adjusting the “damage caused by a crime,” he said.
The Thursday ruling has made Mr. Bialiacki once again a debtor owing funds to the state, said Mr. Stefanovich.
“We will think how we can help him,” he said, adding that Viasna, however, had no plans to launch another fundraising appeal.
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