Human rights defenders and journalists tried at Frunzenski District Court of Minsk

Trials over civil activists from Hrodna and Vitsebsk (Aleh Barshcheuski, Volha Karach, Pavel Levinau, and Pavel Staneuski) were held at the Frunzenski District Court of Minsk on 20 April.

All of them were detained on 19 April (in the apartment of the daughter of a well-known journalist and human rights defender Valery Shchukin in Minsk) and charged with disorderly conduct (the use of obscene language in public). Volha Karach was beaten at the police station – a police officer hit her in the face three times. All detainees were taken to the delinquents' isolation center in Akrestsin Street for the night.

During the detention Pavel Levinau was told that he was detained on suspicion in involvement with the terrorist act in the Minsk metro. However, later they changed the charges to Article 17.1 of the Code of Administrative Offenses (disorderly conduct).

At 11.30 a.m. Judge Tatsiana Shumskaya declined Volha Karach's motion for interrogation of her witnesses. She is charged with the use of obscene language in Serdzich Street and insubordination to lawful demands of the police. A senior inspector of the Frunzenski District Police Department of Minsk, Aliaksei Kavaleuski, participates in the trial as witness of the accusation.

11.40. the tiral of Pavel Staneuski starts in another room. Pavel Levinau is kept in a police car outdoors.

11.50. Volha Karach challenges Judge Shumskaya. She said that she had been detained with the use of physical violence and handcuffs.

12.10. During the trial of Aleh Barshcheuski his witnesses were allowed to testify and refuted the assertions of the police witnesses. Mr. Barshcheuski also stated that he hadn't signed the detention report – somebody had forged the signature (RFE/RL).

1.40 p.m. Aleh Barhsheuski was sentenced to 10 days of arrest. Volha Karach was fined 700,000 rubles (about $225).

1.40. Judge Volha Komar announced a break in the trial of Pavel Staneuski. She will also try Pavel Levinau.

2.35. The trial of Pavel Staneuski resumed.

3.30 “Police witness” Kavaleuski gets confused with the time of the detention of Staneuski and his taking to the police department. According to the documents, he detained both Staneuski and Barshcheuski at 12.40 p.m. Besides, according to the case materials, Staneuski started swearing after the detention, whereas according to the “witness” he used four-letter words for 50 seconds before it.

4.00. Another break was announced in the trial of Pavel Staneuski. Judge Komar questioned the witnesses of the accusation, whose testimonies contradicted to the detention reports.

4.50 Pavel Staneuski and his counsel took floor. Both of them stated that the case should be dropped because of the absence of the corpus delicti.

5.15 Judge Volha Komar stopped the trial of Pavel Staneuski and returned the case materials to the Frunzenski District Police Department, for revising. Mr. Staneuski was set free. The human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovich monitored the trial. He thinks that the case was to have been dropped at all, as far as testimonies of the police in many respects contradict to the detention reports.

5.50 As far as the human rights defender Pavel Levinau moved for admitting his counsel to the trial, the judge postponed the trial to 10 a.m. on 21 April. The counsel will come to Minsk from Vitsebsk. Mr. Levinau was sent back to the delinquents’ isolation center in Akrestsin Street for the night.