English

Brest Regional Court overturns opposition activist’s conviction on charge of organizing illegal migration

 

A panel of the Brest Regional Court on April 30 overturned the conviction of opposition activist Vital Kowsh, who had been sentenced to four years in prison on a charge of organizing illegal migration.

As human rights defender Raman Kislyak told BelaPAN, the panel upheld Mr. Kowsh’s appeal and ordered a retrial in the case. The reasons for its decision were not immediately known.

The former member of the Belarusian Popular Front was convicted by the Brest District Court on March 12. He denied his guilt throughout the trial.

Mr. Kowsh, 28, was arrested in September 2012. He was accused of trying to help eight citizens of India illegally cross the Belarusian border into Poland earlier that year.

All of the illegal migrants were caught by Belarusian border guards on May 15.

Associates suggested that the case had been fabricated in an attempt to vilify opposition forces. Government-controlled TV channels and newspapers provided coverage of the case, highlighting Mr. Kowsh’s political activities.

The theory appeared to be even more credible after one of the Indians came forward to say that he had been forced to falsely accuse Mr. Kowsh.

In a video clip that became available on the Internet last October, the man, who identified himself as Maninder Singh, said that he and fellow migrants had been mistreated by Belarusian border guards following their arrest.
According to the man, he was shown pictures of complete strangers and told to say that they had helped him cross the border into Poland. He said that on July 6 he was driven to an unfamiliar house near Brest and told by a police officer to point at it, which meant that he recognized the place. The house was the residence of Mr. Kowsh.

Writing in his appeal, Mr. Kowsh cited multiple irregularities during the investigation and said that he had been found guilty on the basis of evidence illegally obtained from the Indians.

The activist also raised questions over the authenticity of what the Indians allegedly told the investigators, noting that its texts were identical and even contained the same spelling errors, according to Mr. Kislyak.

Mr. Kowsh’s request that the Indians be summoned to testify in his trial was rejected by the district judge.

“I believe it was in violation of the defendant’s right to examine people who testify against him. In addition, the presumption of innocence was breached in the case and in fact Kowsh was denied justice,” Mr. Kislyak said.

The activist was involved in a number of political campaigns in Brest. He was arrested by police in October 2006 over an opposition street protest and was an observer in the 2010 presidential election.