Journalist Irina Khalip has been given a two-year suspended sentence for participation in “mass disturbance” after December’s disputed Belarusian presidential elections.
Novaya Gazeta correspondent Khalip, 43, is married to presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov, who was sentenced to five years in a labour camp on Saturday (14 May). The couple have a four-year-old son, Danil.
Last Friday, a newspaper editorial musing on the missing artist Ai Weiwei was blocked online. The editorial, which was appeared in the Southern Metropolis Daily, marked the third anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake, an event that Ai investigated. The Guardian translated part of the editorial that reflected on Ai and the deaths of schoolchildren in the disaster:
On the day of mourning we called them home and wished them peace. We gathered together all the human evidence of them we could. We read their names together … We did so much, and yet we did too little … We can but present the steel zodiac, offer up porcelain sunflower seeds, symbolic memorials to your lives once so tangible.
The sunflower seeds clearly refer to Ai’s ongoing installation at Tate Modern. David Bandurski, editor of China Media Project pointed out that in a bold move, one of China news portals, Tencent, had republished the editorial on their online editorial pages. But today (May 16) the editorial can no longer be found on the site.
Last night Lu Qing, Ai’s wife, was taken to an undisclosed location and allowed to see her husband. During the 15 minute conversation she received assurances that Ai has access to his diabetes medication and is receiving regular food and care. He wasn’t in handcuffs and despite the fact that prisoners are usually shaved he still has his signature beard.
Last week’s disclosures from the Chilcot Inquiry into the Iraq war are pretty strong stuff, whichever way you cut it. They include both evidence from a senior defence intelligence official that the September 2002 dossier was “sexed-up” to make a case for war and a landmark publication of three policy papers from MI6 in late 2001, discussing the pros and cons of “regime change”. (more…)
Leading Belarusian opposition politician Andrei Sannikov has been sentenced to five years hard labour for “organising mass disturbance”. Sannikov, the leader of European Belarus, was detained after protests against the disputed re-election of Alexander Lukashenko on 19 December last year. The trial of Sannikov’s wife Irina Khalip, a journalist with Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, began last week.
The 57-year-old former diplomat was reported to have said “take care of my family” as he was led from the court. Attempts have been made to take Sannikov and Khalip’s young son, Danil, into state custody.
In an earlier statement in court, Sannikov claimed he had been tortured while held in the Belarusian KGB’s notorious “Amerikanka” detention centre.
Four other opposition activists were sentenced today for taking part in “mass disturbances”: Oleg Gnedchik was sentenced to three-and-a-half years, while Fedor Mirzayanav, Vladimir Yaromenak and Ilya Vaselevich each received sentences of three years.
Mike Harris, Public Affairs Manager of Index on Censorship said: “The imprisonment and torture of presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov is Europe’s shame. Belarus is degenerating to its Soviet past, Sannikov was jailed simply for attending an opposition rally. His wife is also on trial for attending this protest and the government attempted to take his three- year-old son into care.”
He added: “Europe must use all tools at its disposal including stopping Western banks and the IMF financing the regime. Putting presidential candidates in jail in Europe in 2011 is not acceptable.”
In his final speech before the verdict former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov said: “I love my family more than life. I love Belarus. I love freedom very much. I know that my family and all the people of Belarus will be happy when we become free, but this is impossible without law and order.”