First verdict in “Zeltser case” pronounced in Mahilioŭ

The first verdict in the “Zeltser case” was pronounced in Mahilioŭ. On January 5, Tatsiana Rakhmanenka, a judge of the Lieninski district court of Mahilioŭ, sentenced Aliaksandr Haurylenka, a 45-year-old city resident, to two years in prison and a fine of 3,200 rubles for insulting KGB officer Dzmitryi Fedasiuk, killed by Andrei Zeltser. Remarkably, Aliaksandr Haurylenka's case was considered under one article of the Criminal Code, namely ‘Insulting a representative of the authorities’. While about a hundred detainees in this case were charged with two articles of the Criminal Code at once–Articles 369 and 130 (Incitement of social hatred). Mahilioŭ human rights defenders of Viasna learned the details in this case and the trial.

Shootout in a Minsk apartment. September 28, 2021. Screenshot: KGB video

According to the prosecution, on September 29, 2021, Haurylenka read about the incident with Zeltser and Fedasiuk, then copied an image and posted it in the "Mogilev **%" chat, where there was a discussion of this event. He also commented on the event.

At the trial, Haurylenka pleaded guilty.

During the court hearings, the state prosecution asked for 2.5 years of general-regime penal colony and a huge fine for the Mahilioŭ resident. She also asked the judge not to show unreasonable humanity. As a result, Judge Rakhmanenka sentenced Haurylenka to 2 years of imprisonment and fined him 3,200 rubles.