The Situation in Belarus: Is there any hope for democracy?
- Speaker(s):
- ALEH VOLCHEK and HARRY POGINIAJLO
- Event date:
- Wednesday 16 November 2011
- Description
-
Lecture, 16 November 2011, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.
ALEH VOLCHEK and HARRY POGINIAJLO Harry Pogoniajlo (Gary Pahaniajla), is a well known Belarusian lawyer, human rights activist and a former Judge. He is Head of the Legal Committee of the Belarus Helsinki Committee, as well as Deputy Chairman of the Belarus Helsinki Committee. Gary was born in the Archangelsk region in one of Stalin’s camps for hard labour, where his mother was sent for being the wife of an enemy of the state, she was initially sentenced to death but the sentence was subsequently converted to 15 years of hard labour. Gary grew up in orphanage before being reunited with his mother in 1957 in Minsk. Gary has 14 years of experience of working for the Ministry of Justice; many years as a director of the Law Centre of Soviet District, Minsk. Currently Gary is retired and works pro bono on the cases of disappeared persons. Gary was the first President of the Alliance of Lawyers in Belarus. Gary has been legal counsel on numerous high-profile cases, which led to his reputation as the most fearless and ferocious defender in Belarus. Aleh Volchek is Chairman of ‘Legal Assistance to the People’, a charitable foundation, which has 5 regional offices in Belarus; Aleh is one of the founders of the movement ‘Defenders of Fatherland’, which unites former employees of law-enforcement, the courts, customs and other authorities who strive to uphold democratic principles and actively participate in the fight against corruption and arbitrary rule. He is a former Senior Investigator, Prosecutor’s Office of Frunzensky District, Minsk. He has won the following awards: “Day of Human Rights Defender” by the International League of Human Rights in 1999 for consistent and courageous defence of human rights; “Prize for Bravery” of the German organisation Courage Prize in 2004. Aleh has been made an honorary citizen of the city of Pensacola (USA) and Radeibol (Germany) for his legal help to clients in the face of severe government pressure. Both Gary and Aleh are authors of numerous articles and publications. This is their first visit to the UK.
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