English

Andrey Haydukow is in fact prosecuted for his public activities, rights defender says

Andrey Haydukow is in fact prosecuted for his public activities, prominent human rights activists Aleh Volchak said Tuesday, speaking at a news conference in Minsk, BelaPAN said.

The hearing of a high treason case against the 23-year-old Haydukow is to begin at the Vitsyebsk Regional Court on June 12.

He was charged with espionage “for the public to think that this was what he was engaged in, but as far as we know, the hearing will focus on his public activities as a member of a youth organization, which, like everyone, wants freedom and democracy in the country,” Mr. Volchak said.

He noted that he viewed the accusations against Mr. Haydukow as untenable because authorities never said who he had spied for. “The trial is going to be held behind closed doors to hide incompetence,” said Mr. Volchak, a former prosecutorial investigator. “This is a political act against young people who want to change something in Belarus. It reveals fear of a new generation rising up in the country, which can change many things in two or three months.”

It is difficult to imagine that a 23-year-old man could provide any sensitive information, not to speak of spying for some country, said Dzyanis Sadowski, executive secretary of Belarusian Christian Democracy. “I know one thing for sure: Haydukow was involved in public activities, he was a pro-democracy activist and now he stands trial behind closed doors, and this is an unprecedented instance,” Mr. Sadowski said.

If the Belarusian public buys this spy case, authorities will continue to use such accusations against civil society activists and political opponents, Aleh Korban, leader of a Latvian-registered youth organization called Alternatyva, said in an interview with BelaPAN.

“It is clear that the Belarusian regime aims to intimidate young people and scare them away from political activities,” Mr. Korban said.

Andrey Haydukow was arrested by the KGB in early November 2012.

As his associate, Yawhen Kanstantsinaw, told reporters, Mr. Haydukow had been threatened by KGB officers with “trouble” unless he abandoned his public and political activities.

Mr. Kanstantsinaw, the leader of an unregistered organization called the Union of Young Intellectuals, said that he had first met Andrey during so-called silent protests staged in the summer of 2011. “Haydukow was a well-developed and well-educated young man who was interested in politics,” he said. “He then joined our organization and became its deputy chairman. It was thanks to him that our organization was admitted to the National Platform of the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum. He maintained contact with many organizations both in and outside Belarus.”

According to Mr. Kanstantsinaw, during the 2010 presidential race, Mr. Haydukow was on the campaign team of opposition candidate Andrey Sannikaw. “After December 19, 2010, he and I were engaged in a campaign of solidarity with political prisoners,” Mr. Kanstantsinaw said.
According to him, Mr. Haydukow started to be persecuted when the Union of Young Intellectuals began preparations to obtain state registration. “We wanted it to be registered in Belarus as an international youth organization for culture and cultural exchanges,” Mr. Kanstantsinaw said. “We planned to have it registered abroad if it was not registered Belarus. In this connection, Haydukow held talks with Russian lawyers. We also planned to establish contact with youth organizations in Poland and the United States, but it was just plans. We didn’t undertake any action.”

“After we started preparing documents necessary for registration, Haydukow told me that KGB officers had come to his home, made it clear that such an organization would be unwelcome and suggested abandoning the registration idea, threatening trouble,” Mr. Kanstansinaw said. “I proposed discontinuing our registration effort, but Andrey disagreed.”

KGB spokesman Alyaksandr Antanovich said in November 2012 that Mr. Haydukow had “gathered and passed political and economic information on the instructions of a foreign intelligence agency,” and that he had been caught in the act of making a dead drop.

High treason carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison under Part One of Article 356 and up to death under Part Two.