Verdict in Haidukou trial expected on 1 July

The case is being heard behind closed doors, therefore it is yet unknown whether the charges have been changed and what prison term the prosecutor demanded for Andrei Haidukou.

So far, it is reported that the verdict is expected to be pronounced on 1 July. The session will be public.

Andrei Haidukou, a 23-year-old activist from Navapolatsk, is facing charges under two articles of the Criminal Code: Part 1, Article 14 – “an attempt to commit a crime” and Part, Article 356 – “high treason.” On June 19 the State Security Committee head, Valery Vakulchyk, stated that charges brought against the defendant might be changed.

On June 20 the court questioned as a witness Andrei’s mother. Volha Haidukova saw her son for the first time in the eight months he had spent in custody after his arrest on November 8, 2012. According to the official press service of the KGB, he was arrested in Vitsebsk “while making a dead drop with information that may be of interest to foreign intelligence services.”

Andrei Haidukou’s relatives and friends do not believe that the activist could be engaged in espionage. They link the harassment to Andrei’s opposition views and his desire to create an international public organization “Union of Young Intellectuals.”