Valery Aleksandrovich Esman

Valery Aleksandrovich Esman

Valery Aleksandrovich Esman is involved in politically motivated repressions in the Republic of Belarus. Esman bears personal responsibility for the fact that, as a judge of the Central District Court of Minsk, he has for a long time passed numerous politically motivated sentences against journalists, opposition leaders, activists and protesters. In judicial practice, Valery Esman considers not only administrative cases, but also criminal ones. As a result of his decisions, representatives of civil society of the Republic of Belarus were sentenced to various prison terms. The judge also condones crimes committed by internal affairs officers against opponents of the current regime in the country. In particular, in 2005, Yesman acquitted a riot police officer who hit the wife of kidnapped cameraman Dmitry Zavadsky, Svetlana, despite the presence of video footage of the incident. Between January 1, 2016 and March 14, 2017, he handed down 17 sentences to representatives of civil society. In 2019, Valery Esman fined Leonid Kulakov more than 1,100 rubles. The judge considered the collective prayer in defense of the Kurapaty crosses, which took place on April 7 of the same year near the Minsk Cathedral, to be an “unauthorized event.” Thus, Esman Valery Aleksandrovich is responsible for violations of human rights and undermining the principles of the rule of law, as well as for promoting repression against representatives of civil society and the democratic opposition. His work within the judiciary is focused on maintaining the position of the existing government, rather than on enforcing the law. Esman’s actions contribute to human rights violations, strengthening the power of Alexander Lukashenko and increasing politically motivated repression in the Republic of Belarus.