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Human rights defender Aleh Volchak sentenced to four days in jail

A district judge in Minsk on Monday sentenced prominent Belarusian human rights activist Aleh Volchak to four days in jail on a charge of disorderly conduct.

Speaking during the trial in the Tsentralny District Court, police officers claimed that Mr. Volchak had been arrested for using obscene language and waving his arms in a public place.

Judge Alyaksandr Yakunchykhin did not allow the accused to examine his charge sheet and banned reporters from using audio recorders in the courtroom.

Aleh Volchak, a former prosecutorial investigator who chairs a Ukrainian-registered organization called Legal Assistance to the Population, was arrested in Minsk on Friday, taken to the detention center on Akrestsina Street and held there until his trial.

The arrest prevented Mr. Volchak from traveling abroad to participate in an international human rights conference. Mr. Volchak, a veteran of the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan was also scheduled to have a meeting with "a group of patriot officers." //BelaPAN