Distributor of Vitebskiy Kurier fined 700,000 rubles
Siarhei Kandakou was
detained on 31 October while throwing newspapers into postboxes in block 5 of house
28 in Tserashkou Street
in Vitsebsk.
The local dweller Siarhei Anikevich called the police when he saw Mr. Kandakou
throwing the newspapers. At the trial S.Anikevich alleged that children were often
setting postboxes on fire, which was dangerous for the house.
Judge Alesia Zharykava found Siarhei Kandakou guilty of unlawful distribution
of the newspaper and sentenced him to pay a fine of 700,000 rubles (about
$233).
The local human rights defender Pavel Levinaum who attended the trial of
S.Kandakou emphasizes that throwing Vitebskiy
Kurier into postboxes is the only way to distribute the only private socio-political
edition of Vitsebsk. The newspaper was deprived of the state registration,
after which it was registered in the Russian
Federation and is printed in the Russian town of Smolensk.
