Administrative case against Syarhei Kavalenka closed
A trial over hanging out a flag on a shop in Vitsebsk was held on December 26 in the Kastrychnitski district court in absence of Kavalenka.
“The case was closed due to absence of evidence. The video was edited. There was one witness from a shop, who said he had not seen anything, people told him they had removed the flag,” Kavelenka’s wife, Alena, told Radio Svaboda.
The flag appeared in late November. Policemen based their accusation on a video clip on the Internet showing Syarhei Kavalenka making a long wooden pole and an unidentified man hanging out the flag.
Alena Kavalenka did not see her husband in court – he was not taken there. She worries because Syarhei went on hunger strike on December 19 protesting against unfair, in his view, criminal prosecution.
Kavalenka was placed in a detention facility and went on hunger strike on December 19.
A criminal case for evasion of serving sentence was opened against the activist of the Conservative Christian Party BPF.
The activist from Vitsebsk may face up to three years in prison. Alena Kavalenka was told her husband may remain under custody as long as investigation lasts.
