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Prosecutor demands 20 years for Awtukhovich

The public prosecutor in the trial of Mikalay Awtukhovich and others on April 16 suggested that the defendant be sentenced to 20 years in a medium security correctional institution, as quoted by BelaPAN.

The prosecutor, Eldar Safaraw, pointed out that he considered Mr. Awtukhovich guilty on all counts of the charges against him.

The prosecutor also demanded that Uladzimir Asipenka and Alyaksandr Laryn be sentenced to 11 years in a medium security correctional institution, and that Mikhail Kazlow be sentenced to three years in a minimum security institution.

“It’s obvious for everyone that the prosecution’s case has fallen to pieces,” Vyachaslaw Siwchyk, a civil society activist who attended Friday’s court session, told BelaPAN. “There is no evidence against the accused and the prosecutor’s speech today was reminiscent of the speeches of infamous Soviet Prosecutor General Vyshinsky in the Stalin era.”

The case has been heard at the Supreme Court of Belarus since March 10. Messrs. Awtukhovich, Asipenka and Laryn are charged with “preparations for an act of terrorism” against Uladzimir Sawchanka, chairman of the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee, and Deputy Tax Minister Vasil Kamyanko.

Messrs. Awtukhovich and Asipenka, residents of Vawkavysk, Hrodna region, who have already spent more than a year in jail, are also accused of arranging an arson attack on the house of Syarhey Katsuba, a former chief of the Vawkavysk district police department.

Mr. Kazlow, a police officer in the rank of lieutenant colonel who headed the organized crime prevention unit of the Hrodna regional police department, stands accused of failure to take measures in response to the terrorist preparations of which he is alleged to have been aware.