Milinkevich’s Case Returned for Revision
Source: www.charter97.org
Today in the court of Katrsychnitski borough of Minsk a trial on charges against the united democratic forces leader Aliaksandr Milinkevich has taken place. A.Milinkevich has been charged with alleged crossing the Belarusian border illegally.
Judge Hermanovich studied the materials of the case and decided to return for revision the protocol drawn up by border officers of airport Minsk-2. According to the judge, the protocol has shortcomings and does not comply with Article #184-3 of the Administrative Code of Belarus.
The judge satisfied the request of Aliaksandr Milinkevich who asked the court to give back the passport to his son. The passport was illegally seized on 29 November 2006.
On 26-29 November the leader of the democratic forces has taken part in the NATO summit in Riga on invitation of the Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. On his departure from Minsk, border guards stamped his son’s passport by mistake. It was noticed only when the politician returned back. Border guards haven’t recognized their mistake. They accused Aliaksandr Milinkevich of intentional crossing the border with invalid documents. The politician faces a fine of up to 4.5 thousand dollars or two months of corrective labor.
