The trial in the Mačuliščy case has begun in Minsk
On August 19, the trial in the high-profile case of Mačuliščy attack began in the Minsk City Court. Twelve people, most of them in absentia, are charged under 11 articles of the Criminal Code at once, including "an act of terrorism" (Part 3 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code) and "treason to the state" (Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code). They are accused of committing an attack in Mačuliščy in February 2023, where a Russian A-50 aircraft was damaged. The case is handled by Valiantsina Ziankevich behind closed doors.
The main person involved in the case and, according to official authorities and propagandists, the person who carried out the attack, Mikalai Shvets, was released in June on an exchange with Ukraine. Meanwhile, his accomplices in Belarus face long prison terms. Shved himself is being tried in absentia.
The defendants are Maksim Lapatsin, Andrei Stsiapurka, Aleh Sychou and his wife Anastasiya Pilko, Dzianis Sakalou. According to an ONT propaganda film, they were all assistants in the case, but they did not know exactly who Shvets was and what exactly he needed help with. Thus, Maksim Lapatsin drove Shvets from Stolin to the Lahojsk highway, Andrei Stsiapurka helped him find an apartment near Minsk, Aleh Sychou and Anastasiya Pilko rented him the apartment. And Dzianis Sakalou, who is an alleged informer, as Nasha Niva writes, allegedly helped deliver the drone and find a job for Mikalai Shvets.
Mikalai Shvets is being tried in absentia along with Aliaksandr Azarau, Ala Yatsuta, Vital Yakutsik, Yauheniya Tachytskaya, Mikhail Dziomin, and Siarhei Loparau.
The defendants in the case are charged with 11 articles of the Criminal Code at once: "assistance in extremist activities" (Part 1 of Article 361-4 of the Criminal Code), "financing of terrorist activities" (Part 1 of Article 290-1 of the Criminal Code), "treason to the state" (Part 1 of Article 356 of the Criminal Code), "participation in actions grossly violating public order" (Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code), "agent activity" (Part 1 of Article 358 of the Criminal Code), "causing malfunction of a vehicle" (Part 4 of Article 309 of the Criminal Code), "act of terrorism" (Part 3 of Article 289 of the Criminal Code), "creation or participation in an extremist formation" (Part 3 361-1 of the Criminal Code), "financing of an extremist formation" (Article 361-2 of the Criminal Code), "illegal actions regarding explosives" (Part 4 of Article 295 of the Criminal Code), "training for participation in terrorist activities" (Articles 290-3 of the Criminal Code).
Recall that on the morning of February 26, 2023, explosions occurred at the Mačuliščy airfield near an expensive Russian long-range reconnaissance aircraft A-50, which was blown up in two places. It was used to aim Russian missiles at targets in Ukraine. It was reported that the aircraft is currently under repair at the 325th Aviation Repair Plant, which is part of the Beriev Taganrog Aviation Scientific Technical Complex in Russia.
