Prisoners’ Rights Organisation Platforma Liquidated by Court

Minsk Economic Court on October 9 upheld a liquidation suit against Platforma, a Minsk-based prisoners’ rights organization.

The suit had been filed by the tax office of Minsk’ Saviecki district, which claimed that the organization had repeatedly and grossly violated regulations, in particular by failing to promptly filing tax returns and by not being located at its legal address.

Dzmitry Sodel, a representative of the district tax office, said at the hearing that the some of the organization's letterheads had featured a different address, and that tax inspectors had repeatedly visited the organization at its legal address but found nobody there.

Platforma leader Andrej Bandarenka argued that there were no regulations specifying which of its addresses an organization should put on its letterhead.

As for the failure to file tax returns on time, he said that Platforma had already been fined for that, promptly paid the fine and could not have caused any damage to any one by that shortcoming because it was a not-for-profit organization.

“This court decision was predictable and expected,” Mr. Bandarenka commented on the decision. “We all know that such decisions are made against human rights organizations and opposition political groups in our country.”

Mr. Bandarenka said that he would appeal the decision to a higher court and appeal to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg after exhausting all available domestic remedies.

Registered by the Ministry of Justice in June 2011, Platforma addresses human rights abuse in correctional institutions and detention centers.

Earlier this year Platforma announced plans to press for adding prison and jail officers to the European Union’s list of Belarusians subject to entry bans and asset freezes for the use of “torture” against political prisoners.

“We support the European Union’s actions and will press for the inclusion in the list of prison and jail officers responsible for the torture, cruel, inhuman and humiliating treatment of citizens of our country,” Mr. Bandarenka said on March 1.

Mr. Bandarenka told reporters in June that Platforma would conduct its own investigation into the deaths of prison inmates.

Mr. Bandarenka founded Platform after he had spent almost two years in prison on economic charges. In March 2011, the Minsk City Court acquitted him of the charges.

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