A group of women protesting "unfair" court judgments pronounced against them or in cases of their relatives has once again failed to meet with Valyantsin Sukala, chair of the Supreme Court.
Twenty-eight members of the group arrived at the Supreme Court on February 1 when Mr. Sukala was receiving members of the public, Valyantsina Kavalenka, a representative of the group, told BelaPAN.
They wanted to express anger over the statement that Mr. Sukala has recently made in an interview with the newspaper Sovetskaya Belorussiya that the group was using every tool to pressure the judiciary. Ms. Kavalenka suggested that the statement had been in response to an appeal sent by the group to Alyaksandr Lukashenka in late January over the Supreme Court's ruling in the case of one member.
In 2009, the women made five unsuccessful attempts to meet with Mr. Sukala.
On February 1, they delivered a joint statement to the Supreme Court chairman, accusing him of trying to use the principle of independent judiciary to "cloak judicial mistakes."
"For a specific person, it doesn’t matter how many cases courts try a year. What is important to the person is that her specific case is examined in accordance with the country’s laws," the statement reads. "Therefore, the Supreme Court doesn’t have the right to make a mistake in a single case, as there are the fates of people behind every case."
The women warn that they will not drop their attempts to meet with Mr. Sukala "until their infringed rights are restored."
They stress that they act strictly in accordance with the country’s constitution.
