Vitsebsk Regional Court upholds a fine for distribution of leaflets

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An activist of the Belarusian Leftist Party “Fair World” Andrei Andreyeu tried to appeal the verdict of the Kastrychnitski District Court of Vitsebsk. He was fined 2 million rubles for distributing the informational materials of the civil campaign “Tell the Truth!”.

The judge of the Vitsebsk Regional Court Iryna Smaliakova left stending the fine which had been issued by a judge of the Kastrychnitski District Court of Vitsebsk, Alena Protas under Article 22.9 of the Code of Administrative Offenses, “violation of the legislation on the media”.

On 13 August officers of the Kastrychnitski District Police Department of Vitsebsk detained Andrei Andreyeu while he was throwing leaflets with information about the “People's Referendum” and the “Social Agreement” into the postboxes in a multi-stored building. On 6 September he was fined 2 million rubles by the Kastrychnitski District Court. He didn't manage to convince the courts that leaflets were not media and the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus guaranteed his right to impart information in any form.