Political prisoner Andrei Pazniak convicted in Minsk

Judge Alena Zhyvitsa of the Kastryčnicki District Court of Minsk sentenced today political prisoner Andrei Pazniak to three years of restricted freedom in an open penitentiary (so-called “khimiya”). Pazniak was found guilty of “preparing actions that grossly violated public order” (Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code). The convict was released in the courtroom to await an appeal hearing.

A 28-year-old IT-specialist, Andrei Pazniak was detained on August 11 and taken to the Minsk office of GUBAZIK (the Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption). Two days later, on August 13, several government-owned TV channels aired a video accusing Pazniak of coordinating protests.

Andrei’s lawyer Pavel Pivavarchyk insists that the video was recorded after his client was beaten by police officers.

“After he was detained and taken to the GUBAZIK building in central Minsk, several people beat him, then turned on a video camera and demanded that he confessed to organizing and participating in the riots. He was filmed four times, as the officers had to adjust what he had to say. As a result, they only recorded several videos and no other investigation work was conducted,” the lawyer said.

On August 19, the human rights community of Belarus called Andrei Pazniak a political prisoner and demanded his immediate release.

During the trial, the judge asked whether the defendant complained about the beating. The lawyer replied he they had filed four complaints, but later he learned that the complaints were being considered by the same officers who beat them.

The prosecutor asked to imprison the political prisoner for three years.

The defense lawyers, however, argued that there were numerous procedural violations in the case, including the fact that the wiretapping warrant was issued on August 11, while the actual surveillance began earlier. The counsels also stressed that the video confession was unlawful and the multiple injuries that Pazniak sustained during interrogation were only documented 20 days later.