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Human rights defender Stefanovich appeals tax ruling

 

Prominent human rights defender Valyantsin Stefanovich has filed an appeal with the Minsk City Court against a ruling that imposed over 50 million rubels in back taxes and penalties on him.

In December last year, a judge of the Partyzanski District Court in Minsk upheld the district tax office's suit against Mr. Stefanovich.

The judge ordered Mr. Stefanovich, deputy chairman of a human rights organization called Vyasna (Spring), to pay a total of 54,357,370 rubels ($6,500 at the current exchange rate).

The Partyzanski district tax office sued Mr. Stefanovich in September 2011 after Lithuania and Poland had disclosed information about his bank accounts in the countries under a legal assistance agreement with Belarus.

Mr. Stefanovich maintains that the money was donated by various foundations for financing Vyasna's activities and, in particular, for providing assistance to victims of politically motivated persecution. It was never used for personal spending, he stresses.

Mr. Stefanovich writes in his appeal that the district judge failed to take into account the Lithuanian justice ministry’s letter that described his bank account details disclosed to the Belarusian authorities as incorrect.

During the hearing Mr. Stefanovich insisted that the judge request the Lithuanian justice ministry to specify which exactly details were incorrect. Representatives of the tax office raised no objections, but the judge refused to make the request. //BelaPAN