Elena Tonkacheva: Human rights advocacy is the focus of my work

photo by "EuroBelarus" Information Service

The Head of the Center for Legal Transformation is not going to live and work in Russia, and promises to get back to the situation with law and issues of democracy in Belarus in three years.

The Court of Pershamaiski region in Minsk on January 13 rejected to satisfy the appeal of Elena Tonkacheva re the decision of her deportation from Belarus. According to the judge Natalia Petuch, the internal affairs have all grounds to fear that the public order in Belarus is threatened by Elena Tonkacheva’s driving. Minor speedings turned the car into a “high-risk vehicle”, which had been the reason for depriving Elena Tonkacheva of her residence permit.

The arguments listed by the defense in favor of abolition of the decision to deport Tonkacheva from the country as taken on the ground of imaginary threats didn’t have any effect on the decision of Petuch.

Elena Tonkacheva, who went through several court sessions, wasn’t present when the decision was announced. Later she explained to journalists that “it was psychologically difficult”, and she “wasn’t sure that she would cope with emotions upon announcement of the decision”.

Elena Tonkacheva notes that she took the “preparation and work in the court process absolutely conscientiously”.

- We submitted all the evidence required – both written and witness. I assumed it would affect the court decision (with which it expressed its own opinion) at least when it comes to the time frames of deportation. However, it didn’t. So we will appeal to the Court of Cassation re this court decision.

The Head of Lawtrend notes that the decision to her favor would create a precedent.

- If our position is taken in case consideration, Belarusan authorities would have to review the bigger part of the earlier made decisions, which would put the law enforcement officials into a very painful situation re their former law practice. And that sooner or later will happen, I think. However, the court didn’t apply enough pragmatic approach to flaws in legislation, which shouldn’t be filled on the expense of citizens.

Now, according to Elena, she will be “preparing the appeal and preparing to leave”.

In Russia she is going to get documents, as now she only has a passport for traveling abroad.

- That is why I will have to stay in Russia for about a month, get registered and get my passport. After that I won’t remain in Russia. As to my plans, I think that in three years we will still have what to talk about re law, democracy, and so on in Belarus.

She will be leading the Center for Legal Transformation remotely; human rights advocacy is the priority:

- For now this is the focus of my work. As to the future, it is hard for me to predict anything now.

As to her own expectations from the process, Elena Tonkacheva notes that “you build your own logic, you are within the frames of this logic, and you expect this logic and your arguments work”.

- Despite all assessments of the court system and the former experience in politically motivated cases, you still believe that something should happen in court. I think that if I lose this faith, I would stop working with human rights advocacy at all.

Let us recall that Belarusan civil activists gathered more than seven thousand signatures under the petition asking to let Elena Tonkacheva stay in the country. The human rights defendant doesn’t give any assessments to the process but for judicial; however, the representatives of the civil society find the actions of authorities disproportionate violations and politically motivated due to Elena’s active civic and professional activity.