Supreme Court decides to leave American citizen Zeltzer in Belarusian prison
The Supreme Court of Belarus has not changed the sentence pronounced to an American citizen Emmanuel Zeltzer. The appeal considered on October 31 has not been allowed.
Let us remind you that an American lawyer Emmanuel Zeltzer and his secretary Vladlena Funk were detained in the national airport “Minsk” on March 12. Zeltzer was sentenced to three years and Funk – to one year of imprisonment for using fake documents and attempt of commercial spying on August 11. Both claim to be innocent.
At first the meeting of the Supreme Court needed to consider the appeal of Zelzer was appointed for September 26 but it was postponed because the court “needed additional documents”. The lawyer Dzmitry Harachka informed BelaPAN that nobody had asked him for additional documents.
US authorities demand to release Zeltzer because the lawyer’s health has worsened a lot without the prescribed medicine in prison. The US Embassy presented the needed medicine to the Belarusian authorities in August but it did not reach Emmanuel Zeltzer. Meanwhile, normal medical assistance rendered to Zelzer is one of the main terms of normalization of America-Belarus relations.
A law firm Patton Boggs (Zelzer is its client) has sent an appeal to the International Monetary Fund this week. It urged the fund not to allocate a reserve credit to Belarus asked by the Belarusian National Bank until the American lawyer was released from prison. A human rights defending organization “Freedom House” has sent a similar appeal to the IMF.
Let us remind you that an American lawyer Emmanuel Zeltzer and his secretary Vladlena Funk were detained in the national airport “Minsk” on March 12. Zeltzer was sentenced to three years and Funk – to one year of imprisonment for using fake documents and attempt of commercial spying on August 11. Both claim to be innocent.
At first the meeting of the Supreme Court needed to consider the appeal of Zelzer was appointed for September 26 but it was postponed because the court “needed additional documents”. The lawyer Dzmitry Harachka informed BelaPAN that nobody had asked him for additional documents.
US authorities demand to release Zeltzer because the lawyer’s health has worsened a lot without the prescribed medicine in prison. The US Embassy presented the needed medicine to the Belarusian authorities in August but it did not reach Emmanuel Zeltzer. Meanwhile, normal medical assistance rendered to Zelzer is one of the main terms of normalization of America-Belarus relations.
A law firm Patton Boggs (Zelzer is its client) has sent an appeal to the International Monetary Fund this week. It urged the fund not to allocate a reserve credit to Belarus asked by the Belarusian National Bank until the American lawyer was released from prison. A human rights defending organization “Freedom House” has sent a similar appeal to the IMF.
