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Opposition activist Dzmitry Paliyenka given 10-day jail term

A district judge in Minsk on Wednesday imposed a 10-day jail term on Dzmitry Paliyenka, a Belarusian activist of the Russian-based outlawed National Bolshevik Party (Nazbol).

The judge of the Zavodski District Court found Mr. Paliyenka guilty of disorderly conduct, Mr. Paliyenka’s associates wrote on social networking website VKontakte.

Mr. Paliyenka was arrested on Tuesday when he was leaving his house. His trial was postponed until Wednesday because of flaws in the police charge sheet against him.

On Tuesday morning, police officers were deployed to arrest Mr. Paliyenka and two more Nazbol activists, Dzyanis Sakhar and Yawhen Kontush, who were staying at their homes in Minsk. The officers rang their doorbells and told them to open up and go to a police station. The young men ignored their orders. The policemen stayed outside the apartments of Messrs. Sakhar and Kontush all day.

Authorities apparently want to jail Messrs. Paliyenka, Sakhar and Kontush to punish them for a recent protest against politically motivated persecution and prevent any sign of dissent during the May 9-25 Ice Hockey World Championship in Minsk.

On Sunday, Nazbol activists displayed a banner that said "You Won`t Manage to Jail Everybody!" on Independence Avenue in Minsk to protest the jailing of opposition activists in the run-up to the tournament. //BelaPAN