Minsk: Artur Finkevich Sentenced to 2 Years of Personal Restraint

On 10 May Minsk Pershamaiski Borough Court sentenced the youth activist Artur Finkevich to 2 years of corrective labor for political graffiti. Today the prosecutor has demanded for him 2,5 years of corrective labor, but the verdict turned to be a bit milder. The accusative article was changed from part 3 of article #218 of the Criminal Code (deliberate destruction or defilement of property) to part 2 of article #339 (malignant hooliganism).

Under part 3 of article #218 Artur Finkevich could be sentenced to 7-12 years of jail. The total sum of the financial pretensions to Mr Finkevich decreased much. It used to be 35 196 970 rubles on 4 May. On 10 May it was 461 343 rubles, because representatives of the residential maintenance companies decided there was no need to paint the walls of houses because of the graffiti and decided to do away with painting the graffiti over.