Rights activist seeks legal action against president's newspaper

Human rights lawyer Aleh Vouchak considers a legal action against the presidential administration's mouthpiece Sovietskaya Belorussia newspaper over the article signed by Ksenofont Seperfosfatov, an anonymous name. Vouchak reckons that apart from the honor of rights activist Yana Palyakova, who tragically died recently, his honor also was degraded. Aleh Vouchak: "I will file a lawsuit not to defend the honor of Yana Palyakova but to defend my honor, because it was degraded by this article. Regarding Yana, I will first have to speak with her mother about it, because she has the right to represent the interests of her daughter".

He hopes that the legal action will help to find out who hides behind the name of Ksenofont Seperfosfatov.


Yana Palyakova, 36 hang herself in the night of March 7, 2009 in the city of Salihorsk. On March 6, Sovietskaya Belorussia ran an article signed by mysterious Ksenofont Seperfosfatov. A lawyer by profession, Palyakova was an activist with the unregistered NGO -- Legal Support to Population and cooperated with other human rights organizations and was a member of the nomination group that collected signatures for Volha Kozulina during the 2008 parliamentary elections campaign.