Vitsebsk: Aleh Surhan sentenced to 5 days of arrest
Police took the civil activist Aleh Surhan
to the Kastrychnitski District Court of Vitsebsk right from his home. The
policeman who escorted him to the court said he was doing it on order of
Aliaksandr Kalinouski, the head of the public security department of the
Kastrychnitski District Police Department.
Bear in mind that Aleh Surhan had been detained on 3 July while walking towards
Peramoha Square,
where a silent protest action was taking place at the moment.
Judge Ina Hrabouskaya held the trial in a great hurry: Aleh wasn't even given
any time to hire a lawyer. The case materials weren't ready either. As it was
stated in the police report which was read at the “trial”, the police received
an anonymous telephone call that a man who resembled Surhan was using obscene
language and nibbling sunflower seeds. Of course, Mr. Surhan didn't manage to
disprove the words of the “anonymous”.
He is sure that the real aim of the arrest is to prevent him from taking part
in the silent protest action on 6 July. Last year he had held a number of
actions with white-red-white flags, and was punished with 6 months of arrest
for one of them.
