"Ivan Shpakovsky, a Bobruisk-based lawyer, has filed a complaint with the court of Mogilyov's Tsentralny district, protesting against his expulsion from the Mogilyov Regional Lawyers' Collegium."
Mr. Shpakovsky, who has served as a judge for 10 years and as a defense attorney in the last 10 years, believes that he has been persecuted for his professional activities and his civic position. He represented in court two non-state notaries who appealed against huge fines, which had been imposed on them retroactively by a presidential edict for allegedly receiving excessive income in the past. The cases had far-reaching repercussions and drew the attention of the authorities."
Mr. Shpakovsky participated in several international human rights conferences and wrote articles about human rights violations in Belarusian courts for private newspapers."
In the last 12 months, Mr. Shpakovsky has repeatedly been reprimanded for flaws in his work. According to him, in November 1999, he was reprimanded for absence from his work, although he participated in another case on the same day. He appealed to the Appeals Commission of the Republican Lawyers' Collegium. However, on the date set for the examination of his appeal, he traveled to another town on business, Mr. Shpakovsky says. He had reportedly informed the commission of that beforehand and asked it to postpone the hearing. But the commission instituted disciplinary proceedings against the lawyer for his failure to turn up and issued a second reprimand shortly after."
Mr. Shpakovsky was expelled from the collegium on July 11 on the pretext that he had violated the Law "On Lawyers' Practice" and the lawyer's code of ethics. He was reportedly accused of "trivial bygone shortcomings." The lawyer doubts that the court will conduct an impartial examination of his appeal. He has asked international human rights organizations to send observers to the hearing."