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Opposition activist Vasil Parfyankow fined again for coming home too late

 

A district judge in Minsk on Friday sentenced prominent opposition activist Vasil Parfyankow to a fine of three million rubels ($346) for allegedly violating "preventive supervision" requirements for a second time within a year.

Judge Yury Harbatowski of the Pershamayski District Court imposed the fine on the 29-year-old Parfyankow for coming home too late on May 11.

The man explained during the trial that he failed to return by 8 p.m. on Saturday because his work had taken longer than expected.

On April 4, Judge Harbatowski sentenced Mr. Parfyankow to a fine of 800,000 rubels for a similar offense.

The period of preventive supervision over Mr. Parfyankow will expire on June 19 unless authorities decide to prolong it because of his allegedly poor behavior.

Vasil Parfyankow was one of the 28 people who were sentenced to prison terms in connection with their participation in a post-election protest staged in Minsk on the night of December 19, 2010. He was the first of them to stand trial. In February 2011, he was sentenced to a four-year prison term.

He was granted a presidential pardon on August 11, 2011 and released three days later.

After his release, Mr. Parfyankow was repeatedly arrested and punished under the Civil Offenses Code for participating in unsanctioned demonstrations.

In January 2012, a district judge in Minsk placed the young man under preventive police supervision after the police claimed that he "has not stepped on the path of reformation" and "has repeatedly disturbed the public peace."

Mr. Parfyankow was ordered to report to a probation officer once a week and stay at home between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless he was required to be at his workplace, and prohibited from leaving Minsk on personal business without police permission.

On May 29, 2012, Mr. Parfyankow was found guilty of failure to comply with the restrictions imposed on him and sentenced to six months in jail. The public prosecutor in the case said that the young man had been absent from home without a good excuse and had been found guilty of a civil offense twice within a year. // BelaPAN