Regional court rejects appeal by sacked opposition candidate

A district court panel in Brest has rejected an appeal by former opposition parliamentary candidate against what he calls his politically motivated dismissal from a state-run company.  Alyaksandr Mekh, a member of the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF), is seeking reinstatement to the position of engineer at the Beltranshaz gas pipeline operator.

The chairman of the BPF chapter in the Kobryn district was sacked after he announced his decision to run for parliament in September’s elections.

According to Mekh, Uladzimir Halashka, director of the Beltranshaz office in Kobryn, and Andrey Basko, head of the local office of the Committee for State Security (KGB), told him in early June that he would be fired if he did not pull out of the parliamentary race.

Mekh recorded that conversation and played it in court as evidence of political discrimination.

He intends to take his appeal to the Supreme Court.