Ales Bialiatski: It is not enough to say "I was there!" in court

The first court trial on "December 19" case starts on February 17 at 10:00. The first accused to sit on the dock is not an ex-presidential candidate or a leader of some political party, but an ordinary activist of the civil campaign "Tell the Truth!" Vasil Parfiankou.

“It is obvious that the first trials are the simplest ones for both courts and investigation authorities. So they start from ordinary participants, — a human rights defender Ales Bialiatski contemplates on the topic why the court trials start with Parfiankou. — They will build accusation against the organizers of the mass disturbances on the basis of these court trials, their decisions, the testimonies of witnesses. Therefore, they leave the "organizers" for a "dessert".

"I don't think that the witnesses who give testimony now will be heard in court again. On the whole, the public prosecutors will build their accusation position taking into consideration the first trials in many aspects. The scheme is well-elaborated, it was practiced in Stalin times on group cases like this. First it were ordinary participants to stand trials, then - the so-called organizers. They use the same scheme now".

The human rights center "Viasna" is going to watch  the "December 19" trials. Naturally, if the court gives them such an opportunity.

“We will find out whether the trial will be an open one only on February 17. The trial starts at 10.00. Naturally, we will be there in the beginning of the trial, and our further actions will be defined then. However, we have already received the first alarm that some trials against the "December 19" accused, and maybe even all of them, will be close. Thus, it will be known tomorrow, which format these trials will get, and whether we will be able to participate in them or not", — Bialiatski has said.

Commenting the civil campaign "Become a Witness", which has started on February 15 and urges people to come to the court and witness the peaceful character of the December 19 action, Ales Bialiatski has noted: first a person should fully realise what he is going to give testimony about…

Ales Bialiatski: “As it concerns the "December 19" case, it is very important that people who were in close proximity to the accused at the action give their testimony about these concrete people. It is not enough just to come there as a participant of the action and say "I was there!"... But if your testimony can help to give true and objective information which concerns the accused, the best way to do it is to contact the lawyer! The people who coordinate lawyers, their surnames are more or less known. Only together with a lawyer you can decide whether your testimony will be useful for the destiny of an accused".