Entrepreneurs Aliaksandr Makaieu and Aliaksandr Prysmakou Are Sentneced to 15 and 10 Days of Jail
According to RFE/RL
On 14 March Minsk Frunzenski Borough Court tried the rest of the persons who were detained at the meeting with the candidate to the presidency Aliaksandr Milinkevich that took place in the evening of 12 March.
The chair of the coordinative council of Minsk entrepreneurs Aliaksandr Makaieu and the director of one of Minsk firms Aliaksandr Prysmakou were accused of participation in unauthorized meeting and shouting anti-state slogans. The police confirmed that they specified the persons for detention according to their own criteria. For instance, they detained Mr Prysmokau because he looked suspicious: ‘He was dressed like a foreigner’ and ‘walked around and videoed the events’. The police witnesses also said Mr Makaieu was detained for shouting ‘Let’s Join Belarus to Europe!’ and ‘Freedom to Belarus!’. The detainees’ witnesses disproved these accusations by saying Makaieu and Prysmakou stood quietly and listened to Milinkevich’s speech. However, the judges ignored these testimonies. Finally, the judge Uladzimir Karnou sentenced Mr Makaieu to 15 days of jail and the judge Iulia Lukomskaia sentencend Aliaksandr Prysmakou to 10 days of jail.
The detainees commented on the court verdicts:
Makaieu: ‘Now I am convinced we have no fair court. The numerous verdicts against politically active citizens witness it. They punish you if you think your own way.’
Prysmakou: ‘I treat it as ordered persecution. All persons receive similar punishments - not only those who were arrested at this meeting, but also the persons who were arrested during previous ones. All detainees think it was done with the aim to withhold from actions the active part of the electorate.’
It’s worth mentioned that 12 participants of the 12 March meeting, including 5 Ukrainian citizens, were sentenced to different terms of jail and three more were fined.
