Bialiatski’s defender receives 8 years in jail

The Minsk Municipal Court pronounced the verdict to lawyer Vital Brahinets. The political prisoner received eight years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.

Brahinets was convicted of four criminal offenses:

• inciting social hatred (part 3 of Article 130 of the Criminal Code),
• calling for sanctions (part 3 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code),
• creating an extremist formation or participating in it (part 1 of Article 361-1 of the Criminal Code), and
• actively participating in actions that grossly violate public order (part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code).

Judge Alena Ananich considered the case in a closed court for two weeks.

Brahinets defended some political prisoners, including Viasna chairman Ales Bialiatski. As a result of his arrest, another lawyer, Andrei Machalau, was left without legal counsel during an ongoing trial.