The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Belarus to take all necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 52/2023 concerning Piotr Butsko, starting with according him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Piotr Butsko (Belarus): Opinion No. 52/2023.
ARRESTED AFTER HAVING PARTICIPATED IN NUMEROUS PROTESTS DENOUNCING ELECTORAL FRAUD
Piotr Butsko, born on 30 March 1977, is a Belarusian national and a former deputy head of the Korelichi district police department. Following his retirement from the police force in 2017, he became the executive director of a company.
On 9 August 2020, the Presidential election results in Belarus were announced, leading to widespread protests. On 15 and 30 August 2020, Mr. Butsko participated in rallies against the election results in Lida, Belarus. Following these events, more than 30,000 persons were allegedly detained, and in the case of Mr. Butsko, he faced investigations under article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences for “participation in an unauthorised mass event.” The case was initially closed on 8 September 2020.
However, on 3 December 2020, Ivie District Court sentenced Mr. Butsko to 10 days of detention for participating in opposition assemblies on 13 and 15 November 2020. On 11 December 2020, Korelichi District Court sentenced him to 7 days of detention for a peaceful assembly on 29 November 2020. Lastly, on 14 December 2020, Lida District Court sentenced him to 15 days of detention for his participation in an opposition rally on 25 October 2020. All these decisions were based on the above-mentioned article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences. As Mr. Butsko continued his public opposition to the Government following these decisions, he continued to face diverse retributive actions from the authorities (e.g., being stripped of his police rank)
On 27 May 2021, Mr. Butsko had a fight with the in-house lawyer of the company he was working for. Following the complaint of the said lawyer, an investigation for an administrative offence was opened, later turned into a criminal one, until the lawyer retracted his complaint on 16 July 2021. Though this act should have made it impossible to press charges against him, on 19 August 2021, a criminal case under article 426 (3) of the Criminal Code was opened against Mr. Butsko for these same facts. He was detained on 20 August 2021, charges under article 426(3) of the Criminal Code 10 days later, and kept in pre-trial detention until his sentencing on 10 February 2022. On that day, the Lida District Court found him guilty and sentenced him to 6 years' imprisonment in a strict-regime penal facility, along with a fine and a ban on holding executive positions for 5 years. Though Mr. Butsko filed two subsequent appeals, they both were rejected.
Though given the opportunity to answer these allegations, the Government of Belarus chose not to.
UNJUSTIFIED PRE-TRIAL DETENTION AND NOT PROMPTLY BROUGHT BEFORE A JUDGE
Mr. Butsko was in pre-trial detention in his criminal case for about 6 months without any less restrictive measure being considered, despite having no previous criminal record, a permanent place of residence, and a family with two minor children. The Working Group recalled that pre-trial detention should be the exception and not the rule, ordered for as short a time as possible, and noted that in this case, no justification for not using less intrusive preventive measures was provided. As such, the Working Group considered that the right of Mr. Butsko to not be detained unless necessary while awaiting trial, enshrined in article 9(3) of the Covenant, had been violated.
Moreover, Mr. Butsko was brought before a judicial authority a week following his arrest. As such, the only authority that supervised his first days of detention was the public prosecutor. The Working Group recalled that a prosecutorial body cannot be considered a judicial authority, and as such considered that Mr. Butsko's right to be promptly brought before a judicial authority following his arrest, enshrined in article 9(3) of the Covenant, had been violated.
In this light, the Working Group thus found Mr. Butsko's arrest and detention lacked a legal basis, making his deprivation of liberty arbitrary under Category I.
DETAINED FOR HAVING EXERCISED HIS FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY
According to the source, Mr. Butsko's administrative detentions in 2020 stemmed from his exercise of fundamental rights to freedom of expression and assembly. Specifically, in 2020 he was sentenced to multiple short-term detentions, totalling 31 days, for participating in peaceful opposition rallies.
The Working Group noted that freedom of expression includes the right to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, including political opinions. Though restrictions on specific grounds exist to these rights, the Working Group did not consider they applied in this case. While examining this claim, and among others, the Working Group relied on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' report from 2021, and notably on the finding that following the elections in Belarus, numerous people who had participated in peaceful protest had been charged under article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences.
As such, the Working Group found that Mr. Butsko's consecutive detentions in 2020 solely originated from the legitimate exercise of his rights to freedom of expression and assembly, in violation of articles 19 and 21 of the Covenant.
Consequently, the Working Group concluded that Mr. Butsko's detention was arbitrary under Category II.
Eventually, the Working Group recalled it is not its role to reassess the sufficiency of the evidence or errors of law by national courts. In this case, no prima facie arbitrariness was detected in the domestic courts’ reasoning, and the source did not provide sufficient information demonstrating violations of Mr. Butsko’s rights to a fair trial. The Working Group was thus unable to make any finding under Category III.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
The UN Working Group Against Arbitrary Detention considered the detention of Piotr Butsko to be arbitrary, falling under categories I and II due to violations of articles 3, 9, 19, and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9, 19, and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Working Group expressed grave concern regarding Mr. Butsko’s continued detention despite the arbitrary nature of his arrest and called on the Government of Belarus to take immediate action.
The Working Group requested the Government of Belarus to take the necessary steps to remedy the situation of Mr. Butsko without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms, including those set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Butsko immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law. The Working Group also urged the Government to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr. Butsko and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of his rights.
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