A/HRC/4/16 page 7 Before and after the presidential elections, over 150 people were reportedly summarily put on trial without access to a defence lawyer. Concerns were expressed regarding respect for their right to a fair trial. Freedom of opinion and expression 15. The right to freedom of expression guaranteed by article 33 of the Constitution in practice faces numerous limitations. Several articles of the Belarusian Criminal Code are used by the authorities to suppress the lawful exercise of the right to freedom of expression, including articles 367 (defamation of the President), 368 (insult to the President) and 369 (insult to a government official). In August 2005, Presidential Decree No. 382 imposed a requirement for official registration of “public discussion” events (workshops, seminars) organized with foreign support. In late 2005, the Belarusian parliament adopted amendments to the Belarusian Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure increasing penalties for “actions aimed against a person and public security”, which came into force on 1 January 2006. The vague wording of the amendments paves the way for authorities to use their discretion for a broad, abusive interpretation. A penalty was created for “discrediting Belarus”. “Discrediting” in this context means “the fraudulent representation of the political, economic, social, military or international situation of the Republic of Belarus, the legal status of its citizens or its government agencies”. This would be likely to prevent Belarusian human rights defenders from communicating with United Nations special procedures. 16. The Special Rapporteur was informed of several cases in which freedom of opinion and expression were allegedly violated: • On 10 May 2006, Artur Finkevich, a youth activist, was sentenced to 2 years of restricted liberty for writing political graffiti stating “We want a new President” and “Enough is enough!”; • On 16 June 2006, Nikolay Razumov was sentenced to 3 years in prison for releasing the information that President Lukashenka had been involved in the involuntary disappearances and deaths of Yury Zakharenko, Viktor Gonchar, Anatoly Krasovsky, Dmitry Zavadsky and Gennady Karpenko; • On 23 October 2006, Katsiaryna Sadouskaya, a human rights defender, was sentenced to 2 years in a prison colony for alleged insults and threats (articles 391 and 389 of the Criminal Code). A letter that had never been sent was reportedly found in her home, calling for a psychiatric examination of President Lukashenka and a boycott of the March presidential elections and accusing the Russian secret services of supporting “the Belarusian dictator”. Freedom of the media 17. Freedom of the media is guaranteed by the Law on the Media, but several restrictions are imposed on this fundamental right. In 2006, the index regarding freedom of the media established by Reporters without Borders ranked Belarus 151st out of 168 countries. It is alleged that the Government of Belarus retains control of the broadcast media, printing plants and newspaper distribution networks using its monopoly to limit public access to information.