Brest: civil activist Vital Koush sentenced to 4 years in maximum security prison

According to the verdict which was read by Judge of Brest District Court Mikalai Sianko on 12 March, Vital Koush will serve his sentence in a maximum security prison and his assets will be confiscated.

Vital Koush was charged with the organization of an attempt of 8 Indian citizens to cross the Belarusian-Polish border by a rope in May 2012.

The Indians were detained and deported from Belarus several months after the detention. In some time after their return home they uploaded to the Internet a video address in which they stated that Belarusian policemen had subjected them to inhumane treatment, forcing to give false testimonies against the people they didn't know.

In the beginning of September Vital Koush was brutally detained near his house before the eyes of his relatives. He was kept in custody for five months before the trial. He pleaded innocent at the trial. The prosecutor demanded to punish him with 5 years in prison.