Activists beaten, fined over support for ‘graffiti case’ defendants

Several activists displayed a banner reading “No To Political Persecution” at the beginning of today’s hearing in the ‘graffiti case’. They also chanted, “Art Is No Crime”. Then they were forcibly taken out of the courtroom.

Pavel Siarhei and Maksim Shytsik were taken to the adjacent room and beaten by police officers. Pavel Dabravolski, a reporter for the tut.by portal, who was covering the trial, was also detained along with the activists. He was charged with disorderly conduct and disobeying demands by police officers.

After that the two activists and the journalist were taken to the police station and charged Articles 24.1 of the Administrative Code (“contempt of court”) and Article 23.4 (“disobeying legitimate demands of officials”). Then they were brought back to the court of the Frunzienski district to stand trial, while their personal belongings were left in the police department. The detainees showed signs of beatings.

As a result, Maksim Shytsik and Pavel Dabravolski were sentenced to a fine of 9,450,000 rubles each, while Pavel Siarhei was fined 10.5 mln rubles. The judge - Erokhina Maria. The charges were based on testimony from a police officer, who, according to the convicts, had beaten them.