March 16, KGB officially warned the chairman of the Belarusian United Left Party "Fair World" Sergei Kaliakin about the inadmissibility of his spreading false information. In case of continued illegal activity, he can be prosecuted under Art. 369-1 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (Defamation of the Republic of Belarus), providing for imprisonment for up to 2 years.
He politician received a warning, signed by the KGB deputy head Viktor Weger, after four hours of questioning on the case of December 19. Sergei Kaliakin was charged with «committing illegal acts on December 28, 2010, which is providing the representative of a foreign state, the Bundestag Deputy, M L.Beck (Marieluise Beck — Telegraf) with false information, causing a threat to national security of the Republic of Belarus,» reports website UDF.
«The conversation with the deputy of the Bundestag was a public talk and related to the evaluation of events on December 19. I expressed my personal vision of the situation. The Constitution guarantees the right of every citizen to freedom of opinion and expression,» the politician said.
The leader of «Fair World» Sergei Kaliakin said that the criminal case under article «riots» against the protesters on December 19, 2010, was illegal. «I think it was necessary to bring a case under entirely different articles of the Criminal Code: hooliganism for persons, actually braking the windows at the Government House and criminal negligence in respect of law enforcement officials, who hadn’t stopped the action of hooligans, escalating into riots. Their negligent failure to act could lead to an emergency,» said Sergei Kaliakin.
The politician also expressed his assessment of the country’s presidential election during the meeting with a German deputy. «Well, for example, information that domestic and international observers were not allowed to monitor the actual vote counting is far from false information that could threaten the national security of the Republic of Belarus. Otherwise, this article would cover the majority of the electoral commissions that prevented observers to realize this legitimate right,» he said.
Sergei Kaliakin «disagrees with the issuance of cautions» and tries «to appeal it in accordance with the law.» «Attempt» to sew under Art. 369-1 can be seen as exerting pressure,» said the Belarusian leader of the left, noting that in his opinion, the authorities disliked his «active work for the release of detainees.»
