Ten Days of Jail to Valery Shchukin

On 8 October Vitsebsk Pershamayski Borough Court found the well-known human rights activist Valery Shchukin guilty of resistance to the police. According to Shchukin, he didn’t resist to the policemen, who detained him on 7 October:

-- I was going to the meeting with a candidate that was arranged in the “Bryhantyna” cinema. On the way there I handed out fly-sheets with urges to people not to go to early voting. A police patrol came up to me. They said I was detained for identification. Senior policeman twisted my arms and I felt pain.

At the trial the police witnesses didn’t refuse that a crowd gathered around them and people were indignant with such violence towards the old man. They had to quickly pull Mr. Shchukin into their car not to attract too much public attention and took him to a police point.

At Vitsebsk Pershamayski Borough Board of Internal Affairs they composed against him a report that he disobeyed to demands of the policemen. Judge of Vitsebsk Pershamayski Borough Court Valiantsina Kismeroshkina agreed with the position of the police. Taking into consideration the fact that it was not the first time When Shchukin was detained for distribution of flu-sheets, she sentenced him to ten days of jail.

According to RFE/RL