Appeal against judgement to political prisoner Parsiukevich to be heard 30 May

Appeal of political prisoner Siarhei Parsiukevich is to be heard in the Maskouski district court of Minsk on 30 May.

RFE/RL learnt that from lawyer Vera Stramkouskaya.

The court of the Maskouski district of Minsk sentenced Siarhei Parsiukevich, one of the leaders of the entrepreneurs’ movement, to two and a half years in a minimum security colony. The Vitebsk businessman was arrested in Minsk on 4 March for allegedly “violent acts against a police officer.”

Right before that Parsiukevich got 15 days of arrest in the detention center on Akrestin Street for participation in the rally of entrepreneurs in Minsk. On 21 January he was brutally beaten up by Aliaksandr Dulub, a detention center officer. Later this policeman accused Siarhei Parsiukevich of beating up to avoid accusation of excess of power.

The businessman didn’t confess his guilt on the trial and appealed against the sentence.

Human rights activists think the judgement is politically motivated. The United States and the European Union demand to release the political prisoner.