For how many years will people remain on the travel ban list?
The European Radio for Belarus reported earlier that decision by an investigator would be enough to make a person banned from leaving the country. Defendants or suspects do not always make a written undertaking not to leave the country. The investigator simply decides to restrict a person from exiting the country and enters that name in the database.
Valyantsin Shuklin, a judge at the Constitutional Court, says that even if a suspect has been entered into the database, it will not last long.
“People cannot remain a suspect for one year, two years or three years. This person has to be charged and tried. If there are no charges, this person is not guilty,” Shuklin said.
If a person has been charged, he or she may remain on the travel ban list for a long period of time, but not more than a year.
“If a person is facing charges, investigation can take one year or slightly more. In this case, this person should be interested to stay in the country if he or she is not guilty”, he says.
Lay-enforcement bodies care little that an innocent person can be banned from leaving the country. In the view of the judge, the main thing is to prevent potential criminals from running abroad so that they can face the Belarusian justice.
Aliaksandr Ihnatovich, a deputy chief of the Preliminary Investigation Department at the Interior Ministry, could not say unambiguously whether suspects and defendants would remain on the ban list during the whole time of investigation. He says it will depend on a particular case and a particular person.
On March 5 it will be four years as Anatol Lyabedzka, the leader of the opposition United Civic Party, has been treated as a suspect in a criminal case. In the last days of 2007, he was deprived of the right to leave the country and was entered into the travel ban list. The politicians cannot say for how long more the case will remain pending and he will be banned from foreign travel.
“It is a closed circle which you can walk 10 or 15 years. The prosecutor’s office says they have no claims in order to restrict my travel. At the same time, they say that I remain a suspect in a pending criminal case. The Interior Ministry justifies their decision with this circumstance.
Human rights lawyer Alena Tankachova says investigation can last as long as an investigator wishes. A suspect will be banned from leaving the country during the whole period of investigation.
“In a pending case, suspects will remain banned from foreign travel. The case can be pending indefinitely, if there is a need for that from investigators. Legally, it is possible”, she said.
In her view, only those who made a written undertaking not to leave the country should be restricted from travel. She thinks it is illegal to enter people into the database depending on the political wish of investigators or their bosses.
“In the situation that we are observing now, Lyabedzka and other will not be able to travel as long as the authorities need that”, Tankachova believes.
