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District judge orders imprisoned Ales Byalyatski to pay $18,400

A judge of the Pershamayski District Court in Minsk has ordered imprisoned human rights defender Ales Byalyatski to pay a late charge of 140.3 million rubels ($17,500) and 7.1 million rubels in litigation costs.

In his letter, the judge says that "the defendant did not come to attend the court session," according to Natallya Pinchuk, the wife of the 49-year-old Byalyatski.

"Ales has to pay a late charge four months after his sentencing because he allegedly failed to pay his taxes on time," she said. "However, the late charge was not even mentioned during the hearing of his appeal in late January. I will therefore file an appeal against the most recent ruling."

On November 24, 2011, a judge of the Pershamayski District Court sentenced Ales Byalyatski, chairman of a human rights organization called Vyasna and vice president of the International Federation for Human Rights, to four and a half years in prison on a charge of large-scale tax evasion.

The charge stemmed from information about Mr. Byalyatski's bank accounts abroad, which was provided by authorities in Lithuania and Poland. During his trial, Mr. Byalyatski insisted that the money transferred by various foundations to his bank accounts abroad had been intended to finance Vyasna's activities and therefore could not be viewed as his income.

Mr. Byalyatski's appeal was rejected by the Minsk City Court on January 24

Prior to the hearing, Ms. Pinchuk transferred 757.5 million rubels ($90,400) to the account of the Pershamayski District Court to pay what her husband had been ordered to pay in his criminal case, including his alleged debt, penalties and litigation costs. //BelaPAN