Hrodna: the regional court sides with a district court

On 2 December the Hrodna Region Court considered the appeal of Dzmitry Bandarchuk against the verdict of the Leninski District Court of Hrodna of 10 November 2010, according to which he was fined 700,000 rubles (about $230) for the alleged production and an attempt of distribution of the newspaper Prauda Niakliayeva.

Judge Zayats didn’t grant the appeal. Nevertheless, Mr. Bandarchuk is sure he hasn’t violated anything and will continue appealing the verdict at higher courts. ‘If it’s possible in our country to punish a man for producing and distributing printed materials in the unknown time and place (in which I am accused) without even presenting a copy of these materials – it witnesses only that our country has judicial institutions, but no justice’, commented Dzmitry Bandarchuk.