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Courts in Minsk handing down fewer custodial sentences

Custodial sentences handed down by courts in Minsk declined in number by 4.2 percent in 2011, Syarhey Balashow, senior aide to the city prosecutor, told BelaPAN.

Minsk courts sentenced a total of 2,374 people to prison last year, down from 3,081 in 2010, he said. A total of 8,752 people were convicted for a criminal offense in Minsk in 2011.

The share of people sentenced to corrective labor fell from 6.3 percent in 2010 to 5.3 percent last year and of those sentenced to “restricted freedom” from 10.1 percent to 8.2 percent.

The city’s courts considered 79,464 civil lawsuits last year, down by five percent compared with 2010. // BelaPAN