Larysa Shchyrakova and Zmitser Zhaleznichenka Fined for ‘Illegal Business Activity’

On 9 August the Economical Court of Homel Region found the organizers of a concert of Belarusian bards Larysa Shchyrakova and Zmitser Zhaleznichenka guilty of illegal business activity and sentenced them to pay 310 000 rubles (about 141 US dollars) fine. 

The court listened to testimonies of the witnesses who wrote an application to the tax inspection that they had paid for the concert to an unknown person standing at the entrance of the house where the concert took place with something looking like a ballot box. The witnesses of the accusation, Stanislau Lapyka, Piatro Valiayeu and Anton Yanachkin stated that they had throw 5 000 rubles (about 2,5 US dollars) each into the box. at the trial they said that they did not personally know the concert organizers and refused to tell the reason why they applied to the tax inspection. 

‘Despite the fact that business activity provides systematic profit, the court ruled to find Shchyrakova and Zhaleznichenka guilty, though they did not receive any profit and this fact was proved at the trial. I think that this case is of solely political nature,’ commented Leanid Sudalenka who represented the defendants’ interests in court.