Special Focus Case
Northeast Region
Yury
Bandazhevsky
Status: PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE
Location: BELARUS
Region: NORTHEAST
Overview | Background | Actions
Yury Bandazhevsky devoted much of his working life to investigating the effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion upon the people of southern Belarus. A respected medical academic, his knowledge of the situation compelled him to criticize the government’s response to the disaster. Authorities responded to Bandazhevsky’s criticism by arresting him in 1999.
In July 1999, police officers arrived at Professor Bandazhevsky’s home near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in the middle of the night and arrested the scientist under “anti-terrorism” legislation. Over the next six months he was transferred from one prison to another, until his health gave way and he was hospitalized. In late December 1999, he was conditionally released from prison, pending trial, but was returned to prison in 2001 after a court convicted him of accepting bribes from students seeking admission to the Gomel Medical Institute, of which he was the founder and rector. Yury Bandazhevsky denied the charges against him and expressed concern that he had been targeted by the state authorities on account of his scientific research into the Chernobyl catastrophe and his open criticism of the authorities. The court sentenced him to eight years in prison.
The evidence supporting Yury Bandazhevsky’s conviction was based on the testimony of one person, who herself admitted accepting bribes from students. International and domestic trial observers stated that Bandazhevsky’s right to a fair trial was repeatedly violated.
After the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded in April 1986, nearly 90 percent of Belarus was reportedly affected by the huge cloud of radioactivity that spread across much of Europe. An expert in the field of radiation exposure, Professor Bandazhevsky examined the effects of the radioactive fall-out on the people living in the region of Gomel, a few miles from the Chernobyl reactor. He had openly criticized the reaction of Belarusian authorities to the disastrous impact of the Chernobyl catastrophe on the population's health, stressing the need to find innovative solutions to the problem. At the time of his arrest, police officers reportedly confiscated his computer, books and files relating to his scientific work.
Authorities transferred Professor Bandazhevsky in May 2004 from a penal colony in Minsk to a corrective labor facility in the Grodno region, where he has been assigned to work for a private agricultural enterprise in the village of Peskovtsy. Although this is an improvement over his previous conditions of imprisonment, he remains a prisoner of the state, living under restricted freedom. Amnesty International considers Yury Bandazhevsky to be a prisoner of conscience, imprisoned for exercising his right to freedom of expression. The organization seeks his immediate and unconditional release.
Belarusian authorities have repeatedly demonstrated their unwillingness to tolerate any form of criticism or political dissent. Human rights defenders have faced a mounting campaign of harassment and intimidation by authorities. Several prominent human rights organizations were closed in 2003 after receiving official warnings from the Ministry of Justice. Warnings were issued for spurious violations of a controversial law that tightly regulates the activities of civil society. A large number of other organizations were refused registration or had their registration annulled for equally questionable reasons.
The Ministry of Information has regularly employed a similar system of official warnings and suspensions to keep in check privately owned media. Several influential newspapers have been suspended. Others have been burdened by crippling defamation suits brought by state officials.
Peaceful demonstrators and others who have dared to publicly challenge government officials or policy have been met with arrest and imprisonment.
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