A/HRC/29/43 Individuals concerned are often not informed of the charges against them, nor are their rights explained, and families are not informed of their detention. 32 62. Furthermore, in the court hearings of such administrative cases, only the testimony of police officers is used as the basis for court rulings in the case of preventive detentions. Any witnesses brought by the defence are ignored. Hearings are held in closed sessions. Issues concerning the lodging of appeals to the initial decisions of the court were also reported. F. Imprisonment of political opponents, human rights defenders and activists 63. During the period under review, several long-term political prisoners were released. Ales Bialiatski, founder of the Viasna Human Rights Center, who was sentenced in 2011 on charges of tax evasion, was released in June 2014 after having served three years of his four-and-a-half-year sentence. The Special Rapporteur welcomes his release. He also notes the release of two political prisoners, Vasil Parfiankou and Eduard Lobau, in December 2014, although after they had served their full sentences. None of them was rehabilitated, nor were their cases reviewed. The Special Rapporteur reiterates his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all other opponents and activists whose sentences appear to be politically motivated, and for their full rehabilitation.33 64. The Special Rapporteur has been informed that, since June 2014, the list of individuals having been or being held in detention on politically motivated charges include Evgeniy Vaskovich, Igor Olinevich, Vasily Prokopenko and Mikalai Statkevich, Ihar Alinevich, Mikalai Dziadok, Artisom Prakapenka and Yury Rubtsou. 34 65. The 2010 presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich remains in detention, serving six years in prison on charges of organizing mass riots, personal violence and resistance to public agents.35 On 12 August 2014, Andrey Bondarenko, an advocate for prisoner rights from Platforma Innovation, a non-governmental organization, was sentenced to three years in prison for hooliganism. 36 On 22 December 2014, Yury Rubtsou began serving an 18month sentence, convicted of insulting a judge during an administrative hearing, which was held in closed session.37 An activist from Gomel, he was first arrested in November 2013 during a demonstration for wearing a T-shirt on which was written “Lukashenko, go away!”. He has since been repeatedly sentenced to terms of administrative detention. G. Enforced disappearances 66. There has been no progress in solving the outstanding cases of enforced disappearance dating back to 1999 and 2000, when Viktar Hanchar, a former member of Parliament, and his associate, Anatol Krasouski, as well as Yury Zakharenko, former Minister of the Interior, and Dimitry Zavadsky, an investigative journalist, were abducted. 32 33 34 35 36 37 12 FIDH, Arbitrary Preventive Detention (see footnote 26), pp. 13-15. OHCHR, “Belarus: ‘Rights Defender Ales Bialiatski released, but other political prisoners remain in jail’ – UN expert”, press release, 24 June 2014. See Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Watch UPR Submission to UNHRC: Belarus, 17 September 2014; and FIDH, Arbitrary Preventive Detention (see footnote 26). OHCHR, “Belarus: ‘Rights Defender Ales Bialiatski released’” (see footnote 33). Human Rights Watch, UPR Submission (see footnote 34). Viasna, “Situation of Human Rights in Belarus” (see footnote 3).