Medical Institute, he proposed to the Education Director to collect money as bribes from parents of applicants to study at the Institute. Belarusian Helsinki Committee—to represent him in court, in violation of article 14, paragraph 3 (d). 3.6 In relation to article 14, the author claims that his guilt was not proven in Court. The only evidence against him were the allegedly contradictory declarations of two witnesses—Mr. Shaichek and Mr. Ravkov; the judgement allegedly did not refer to other evidence. It is stated that the Court considered only the arguments of benefit to the prosecution, ignoring procedural violations committed during the investigation and in court. According to the author, this proves the lack of impartiality of the Court, and that the investigation and the court’s proceedings were biased and incomplete. He adds that Mr. Ravkov had initially made a deposition on 12 July 1999, accusing him of taking bribes, but later, in court, he retracted his deposition, stating that initially he was under pressure from the investigators (interrogation longer than legally authorized, with no food or sleep, and use of threats against his wife and daughter; he also claimed that a psychotropic substance had been added to his food). The Court allegedly ignored these declarations and took into account only the initial ones. 2.2 The author affirms that he has exhausted all domestic remedies. The complaint 3.1 The author claims a violation of article 9, paragraph 1, of the Covenant: he notes that he was arrested on 13 July 1999, with approval of the Procurator General, and detained for 30 days under a Presidential Decree of 21 October 1997 “On the urgent measures for the fight of terrorism and other particularly dangerous violent crimes”. He claims that he was later charged with having accepted bribes, contrary to article 169 (3) of the Criminal Code of Belarus. This offence, he notes, has no relation with terrorism or other violent or particularly dangerous crimes. According to him, there was no justification for his arrest and detention. 3.2 The author claims that he was not informed of the charges against him upon his arrest on 13 July 1999, and that he was accused of having received bribes only 3 weeks later, on 5 August 1999, in violation of article 9, paragraph 2, of the Covenant. He also claims that he was deprived of the possibility of having his detention reviewed, in violation of article 9, paragraph 4, of the Covenant. 3.7 The author contends that contrary to article 14 of the Covenant, courts in Belarus are not independent because the President of the Republic has sole authority to appoint and dismiss judges; before their formal designation, they go through a probationary period, without any guarantee that they will ultimately be appointed. In the author’s opinion, the lack of independence of judges is also confirmed by a report of the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (June 2000). 3.3 He also claims that, during his detention, he did not receive any medical care, commensurate to his state of health, in violation of article 10, paragraph 1, of the Covenant. He states that only after an abrupt deterioration of his state of health, he was hospitalized on 8 August 1999 in the regional hospital of Mogilev; on 18 September 1999, at the request of the authorities, he was again placed in detention. He further claims that he was unable to have any items for personal hygiene or adequate personal facilities. The conditions of detention did not allow the author to consult scientific or artistic literature, or press from independent media, “corresponding to his background and profession”. 3.8 The author further claims that under article 1 of the Decision of the Supreme Council (Supreme Chamber of the Belarusian Parliament) on the “interim situation in the designation of people’s jurors (assessors)” (7 June 1996), all Belarusian citizens of above 25 years can become jurors, and citizens of 25 years and in active military service — can become jurors in military courts. However, in his case, only the President of the Military Chamber of the Supreme Court was in active military service, and none of the jurors. This is said to raise issues under article 14 of the Covenant. 3.4 He claims that during his pretrial detention, the conditions of detention were identical to those of convicted prisoners, in violation of article 10, paragraph 2, of the Covenant. 3.5 The author reiterates that the charges against him were notified only on 5 August 1999 (23 days after his arrest), and claims that until this moment, he was deprived of the possibility to defend himself against those charges, in violation of article 14, paragraph 3 (a), of the Covenant. He alleges that between 6 August 1999 and 18 September 1999, during his stay in hospital, he was not allowed to consult his lawyer, in violation of article 14, paragraph 3 (b), of the Covenant. Allegedly, the Court did not allow his counsel—Mr. G.P. from the 3.9 Finally, the author claims that his rights under article 19, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the Covenant were violated. He contends that in April 1999, during a Parliamentary Session on the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, he produced a critical report on the effects of the event for Belarus, which was very different from the official position of the Government. In the author’s opinion, his criticism was the true reason for his persecution and dismissal from the Medical Institute. 85