Justice Ministry threatens lawyers of KGB jail prisoners

• 29.12.2010, 16:27

The authorities have decided to punish lawyers of “Amerikanka” (KGB jail) prisoners.

In order to leave the society without any information about state of health of the presidential candidates, activists and journalists arrested by the KGB, and about violations of their rights, the Justice Ministry if Belarus threatens to their lawyers.

In the instruction to the Minsk city college of lawyers sent by the Justice Ministry, the ministry states that “certain lawyers… perform gross violations of the Lawyers’ professional code of ethics, of the laws currently in force, including the Belarusian Statute on Advokatura. In particular, some lawyers abuse their right to defend some persons, provide distorted information about the process of investigation and possibilities to realize their rights by their clients, about their state of health and incarceration conditions, offer biased information about the work of the law-en forcing agencies of the country.”

The Justice ministry is carrying out investigation of the elicited facts. Explanations would be asked, and subsequent to the results appropriate measures of reaction would be taken.

We remind that after the brutal dispersal of the peaceful protest rally against the rigged results of the presidential election, presidential candidates, democratic activists and journalists were imprisoned in the KGB jail. 23 persons in total are kept in the KGB detention facility.