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Pavel Vinahradaw to stand trial over "toy protest" in downtown Minsk

The leader of Zmena, the youth wing of the "Tell the Truth!" movement, will stand trial on December 17 for staging another "toy protest" in downtown Minsk.

On Wednesday morning, 24-year-old Pavel Vinahradaw was briefly detained by police.

"The previous evening, a probation officer phoned Pavel and ordered him to present himself at the Maskowski district police station to sign or fill out some papers," his wife told BelaPAN. "When Pavel came to the station this morning, he was put into a vehicle and driven to the Pershamayski district police station. He was charged with staging an unsanctioned demonstration and then allowed to go home."

The toy protest took place opposite the National Library of Belarus on Monday morning. Zmena activists scattered more than a dozen stuffed animals at the scene and planted signs that said, "Only one percent of the Belarusians have an active civil stance," "Our higher education diplomas are not recognized abroad," "The rubel has become three times cheaper in a year," "Many Belarusians go abroad to earn money," "Someone has already been at the helm for 18 years," "Twelve citizens of Belarus are in prison because they do not like the incumbent president," "How did this happen?" All messages were deliberately misspelled.
Fifteen minutes into the protest, police officers arrived at the scene, collected the toys and the signs and drove away.

In May 2011, Pavel Vinahradaw was sentenced to four years in prison in connection with a post-election protest staged in the Belarusian capital city on December 19, 2010. He was among 11 post-election protesters pardoned by Alyaksandr Lukashenka on September 14, 2011.

Since then, Mr. Vinahradaw has repeatedly been arrested for allegedly shouting obscenities in public places. He had already served 57 days in jail this year. //BelaPAN

On April 10, Mr. Vinahradaw was placed under "preventive" police supervision. He is prohibited from leaving Minsk without police permission and required to stay at home from 8 p.m. to 7 a.m. and report to probation officers on a regular basis.