English

Rights defender Sadowskaya calm over fresh criminal case

Human rights defender Katsyaryna Sadowskaya has expressed certainty that she will not stand another trial for insulting Alyaksandr Lukashenka.

The Investigative Committee has instituted criminal proceedings against the 68-year-old activist over an emotional entry that she made in a public complaints book in a Minsk court this past April. The entry, which said, "When will judges stop fulfilling criminal orders made by mentally ill citizen Lukashenka?," was her reaction to the multiple jailings of opposition activists ahead of the May 9-25 Ice Hockey World Championship.

Speaking in an interview with the Belarusian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on Friday, Ms. Sadowskaya predicted that the case would be dropped. "Otherwise they will have to make public documents about the mental health of Mr. Lukashenka, and they don't want to do that," she said.

"I think Lukashenka will be afraid of a public trial," said the woman, adding that two similar cases against her had been dropped in the past.

Ms. Sadowskaya, a former employee of Minsk Radiator Plant, has engaged in human rights activities since 1988.

In 2006, Ms. Sadowskaya was sentenced to a two-year prison term on a charge of an insult against the president over her plans to demand a mental examination for Mr. Lukashenka. She spent more than 10 months in prison before being released on parole in May 2007. //BelaPAN