Uladzimir Kondrus sentenced to 1.5 years of personal restraint and forced treatment

The Court of Maskoŭski district of Minsk sentenced today Uladzimir Kondrus, the last defendant in the December 2010 riot trial, to 1.5 years of personal restraint and forced outpatient treatment, finding the defendant to be partially insane, which was taken into account as a mitigating circumstance. The sentence also absorbed the period of pre-trial detention.

The court ordered to remove the arrest from the defendant’s property, since the damage caused by the offense had been reimbursed. The court also ruled to change the measure of restraint and immediately release Kondrus from custody.

Prior to today’s hearing, Uladzimir Kondrus was taken to the courthouse, but refused to enter the room. As a result, the trial was held without the defendant.

According to the indictment, Kondrus attempted to break into the Government House, hit the glass doors with a paper stack, then with a downspout, beat the police shields, hit an unidentified police officer, acting in the rampant crowd.

A psychological and psychiatric examination said that Uladzimir Kondrus suffered from a paranoid disorder and was therefore found partially insane.

A later examination appointed by the court found Kondrus suffering from a schizoid personality disorder. As a result, he was not fully aware of his actions at the time of committing the offense.

The prosecutor argued that the defendant’s guilt was fully proven, including by previous convictions, which came into force and established the fact of mass riots in Independence Square on 19 December 2010. He asked to punish Kondrus by a sentence of three years of restraint of liberty.

The defendant’s lawyer disagreed that the actions were qualified as rioting, saying that there was no riot on December 19 at all. He said that there were group actions that breached public order and asked to find Kondrus not guilty.

Human rights activist Valiantsin Stefanovich, who attended today’s hearing, said:

“This trial has once again stressed the fact that representatives of the human rights community were absolutely right when assessing the events of December 19: those events can not be qualified as a riot, because they were not accompanied by any demolition, arson or armed resistance to police officers, and committing illegal acts by a relatively small group of demonstrators was not a valid reason for dispersing the entire protest, using violence and arresting the participants. And certainly this could not be a justification for the further escalation of repression in the country, which affected a wide range of people, including human rights defenders and journalists."

The trial of political prisoner Uladzimir Kondrus, who faced charges nearly six years after the 2010 post-election protest, opened on November 16. However, after being brought into the courtroom, Kondrus attempted to slash his wrists. As a result, he was sent for a psychological and psychiatric examination.

Uladzimir Kondrus was detained on June 14 this year. He was then held in pre-trial prison No. 1 in Minsk, where he declared a hunger strike.

Human rights defenders recognized Uladzimir Kondrus a political prisoner.