English

People arrested Wednesday evening in Minsk sentenced to fines, jail terms

 

People who were arrested in Minsk on Wednesday evening during a so-called silent protest were sentenced the following day to fines and jail terms.

According to human rights defenders, more than 160 people were arrested in Minsk and a total of about 100 during similar protests in other cities.

A judge of the Savetski District Court in Minsk sentenced prominent young opposition activist Palina Kuryanovich to 15 days in jail under Article 17.1 of the Civil Offenses Code, finding her guilty of disorderly conduct.

Yahor Kazey and Maksim Sarychaw were sentenced in the same court to fines of 875,000 rubels and 700,000 rubels, respectively, on the same charge.

In the Leninski District Court, opposition activist Yury Bakur was also sentenced to 15 days in jail. Two more men arrested during the Wednesday silent protest in Minsk, Yawhen Shymanski and Alyaksey Astapenka, were sentenced to 14 and 10 days in jail, respectively. Alyaksey Dudar and Viktar Khanenya were each fined 875,000 rubels. One more man whose name was unknown to human rights defenders was sentenced to a fine of 700,000 rubels.

As human rights defender Valyantsin Stefanovich told BelaPAN, the trials of eight people in the Frunzenski District Court were postponed to the afternoon after the charge sheets against them were found faulty and sent back to the Frunzenski district police station for correction.

Mr. Stefanovich noted that police officers were preventing human rights defenders from entering the courthouses.