Constitutional Court chairman appeals to prosecutor general to take measures against officials who exert pressure on the Court

1996-10-24 14:50

Minsk, 24 October. Valery Tsikhinya, chairman of the Constitutional Court of Belarus, has appealed to Prosecutor General Vasil Kapitan to take measures against officials who exert pressure on the Court through the media. The appeal reads that in view of the fact that on November 1, the Constitutional Court is to examine the Supreme Soviet's resolution "On a National Referendum in the Republic of Belarus and Measures for its Organization" to verify the constitutionality of putting the constitutional changes proposed by the president and the group of MPs to a referendum, "officials holding high positions in the state put pressure on the Constitutional Court through the media." Mr. Tsikhinya refers to an article titled "For whom is the constitution no authority?" published in the October 24 edition of the newspapers Narodnaya Gazeta and Respublika, in which the Main Office of Public and Political Information of the Presidential Administration claims that "the Supreme Soviet's striving for dictatorial and uncontrolled authority is inspired by the Belarusian Constitutional Court which directly depends on the Supreme Soviet's leaders." According to Mr. Tsikhinya, similar statements were made by officials earlier in the press, on radio and television and should be regarded as a form of pressure on the Constitutional Court and its judges. Moreover, this pressure concerns constitutional control activity. Mr. Tsikhinya warns that such pressure is punishable under Article 126 of the constitution.
The Constitutional Court chairman asks the prosecutor general to take measures against the officials who exert pressure on the Court and to prevent illegal actions against Belarus' supreme body of constitutional control.