Valery Shchukin Fined 1.5 Million Rubles
Source: www.charter97.org
Graffiti ‘Freedom to Valery Shchukin!’, ‘We are with you!’, ‘Shchukin! We love you!’ have emerged these days in Vitsebsk, where a process over the human rights activist is taking place at the moment. The human rights activist is charged with insult of election commission members who had been engaged in rigging local election results. Every day people with his portraits are gathering near the court. The reaction of Vitsebsk police to actions of solidarity is very aggressive. For instance, on 6 June they battered even women and children. 5 activists were detained.
A well-known human rights activist Valery Shchukin has been sentenced to pay 1 240 000 (about 600 US dollars) rubles by Pershamaiski court of Vitsebsk. Besides, Valery Shchukin is to pay 250 000 rubles of moral damages for a member of the regional election commission Tatsiana Buyevich allegedly insulted by him.
A 65-year-old human rights activist is charged with violation of article 189 of Criminal Code for insult of members and workers of the election commissions during the campaign for election of deputies of local Councils of the 25th convocation.
The human rights activist is charged with insult of the chair of the district commission Ala Kalesnik, the deputy chair of the district commission Tatsiana Ukrozhanka; a member of the district commission Nadzeya Aheyeva and a member of the regional commission body Tatsiana Buyevich.
After the election to local Soviets which were held in Belarus on 14 January 2007 the human rights activist distributed leaflets informing that members of election commissions had been taking part in rigging election results.
Besides, the court stated that Shchukin is to pay a fine of 170 000 rubles which he allegedly hadn't paid in 1999 for taking part in Freedom March.
