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Mikhail Bashura is on trial for being activist of "Tell the Truth!" campaign, Nyaklyayew says

Mikhail Bashura, who stands accused of forgery, is actually on trial for being an activist of the "Tell the Truth!" campaign, Uladzimir Nyaklyayew, a presidential hopeful who leads the campaign, told BelaPAN on Monday.

Mr. Bashura was arrested on August 6 on suspicion of producing a false income statement a couple of years ago to obtain a bank loan for the construction of an apartment. On August 16, he was charged with forgery under Article 380 of the Criminal Code, which provides for a maximum penalty of three years in prison.

The 35-year-old Bashura denies any wrongdoing, insisting that he misstated his income by mistake.

If Mr. Bashura had wanted to falsify his report, he would have understated his income, as a low income was a condition for obtaining such a loan, Mr. Nyaklyayew commented.

"When I heard of this, the first thought that crossed my mind was: Alyaksandr Lukashenka has admitted to rigging the 2006 election to understate his actual share of the vote," he said. "If what Lukashenka did wasn`t illegal because he gained nothing from it, shouldn`t Bashura be acquitted on the same grounds?"

According to Mr. Nyaklyayew, he hoped until the last moment that the trial of Mr. Bashura would be postponed, and that the case would ultimately be dropped. "It`s obvious that a person cannot be kept in jail for so long for such a minor offense let alone receive a prison sentence," he said.

“Bashura is not a criminal,” Mr. Nyaklyayew said. “He is not an offender. He is an activist of the ‘Tell the Truth!` campaign, its coordinator for the city of Minsk, and this is the reason he is on trial today and will most likely be convicted.”

Mr. Nyaklyayew condemned the Committee for State Security (KGB) for involving the police and prosecutorial bodies in the persecution of opponents of the government. "The KGB passed the buck to a poor young woman who is the public prosecutor in the trial," he said.