Criminal Trials in Belarus After December 19

of Legal Transformation Center

Criminal trials in Belarus after December 19

In the period from February 17th to May 26th there were 13 criminal trials, connected with the presidential elections and the peaceful demonstration in the aftermath. As a result of the December 19th demonstration, 5 candidates for presidency out of 10 were convicted.

The total number of convicts is 43 persons. Three men – candidates for presidency A. Sannikov, N. Statkevich, D. Uss – were convicted of organization of mass riots (Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus) and sentenced to 5 or 6 years of imprisonment. 10 participants of the demonstration, including two candidates for presidency V. Neklyayev and V. Rymasheuski, were convicted of organization of actions, roughly violating public order (Art. 342 Criminal Code of RB). Two activists of the youth organization “Malady Front” (registered in the Czech Republic) were convicted of hooliganism (Art. 339 CC RB). 28 participants of the demonstration were sentenced to various kinds of penalty for participating in mass riots (2 of them are fined, 2 - sentenced to freedom restriction for 3 years, 24 are sentenced to imprisonment for 3 to 5 years.

Human rights organizations consider that the fact of mass riots on December 19th was not proved in court, and all the sentences are politically biased, therefore they should be reconsidered. All people subject to criminal prosecution in connection with the events of December 19th are regarded as prisoners of conscience.

Case of Statkevich, Uss, Klaskovskiy, Bulanov, Pozniak, Gribkov, Kviatkevich

May 26, 2010 The judge of the Leninski District Court of Minsk City Liudmila Gracheva has passed the judgment in relation to Nikolay Statkevich and Dmitriy Uss, who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 1 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass riots); Alexandr Klaskovskiy who was convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the participation in mass riots), art. 382 (fraudulent imposition), art. 369 (insult of an official); Dmitriy Bulanov, Andrey Pozniak, Artem Gribkov, Alexandr Kviatkevich who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 2 art.293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the participation in mass riots).

Nikolay Statkevich was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the organization of the mass riots and was condemned to 6 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Dmitriy Uss was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the organization of the mass riots and was condemned to 5,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Alexandr Klaskovskiy was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots, art. 382 (fraudulent imposition), art. 369 (insult of an official) and was condemned to 5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Dmitriy Bulanov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Andrey Pozniak was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years of freedom restriction without sending to custodial institution;

Artem Gribkov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 4 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Alexandr Kviatkevich was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Case of Sannikov, Vasilevich, Gnedchik, Mirzoyanov, Eromenok

May 14, 2011 The judge of the Partizanski District Court of Minsk City Nataly Chetvertkova has passed the judgment in relation to Andrey Sannikov, who was convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 1 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass riots), Ilya Vasilivich, Oleg Gnedchik, Fedor Mirzoyanov, Vladimir Eromenok, who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 2 art.293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the participation in mass riots).

Andrey Sannikovwas found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the organization of the mass riots and was condemned to 5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Ilya Vasilivech was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Oleg Gnedchik was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Fedor Mirzoyanov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Vladimir Eremenok was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime.

Case of Neklyaev, Rymashevski, Dmitriev, Feduta, Vozhiak, Polozhanko

May 20, 2011 The judge of the Frunzenski District Court of Minsk City Zhanna Zhukovskaya has passed the judgment in relation to Vladimir Nekliaev, Vitaly Rymashevski, Andrey Dmitriev, Aleksandr Feduta, Sergey Vozniak, and Anastassiya Polozhanko, who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions).

Vladimir Neklyaev was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years;

Vitaly Rymashevsky was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years;

Andrey Dmitriev was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years;

Aleksander Feduta was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years;

Sergey Vozniak was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years;

Anastasya Polozhanko was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 1 years on probation with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years.

Case of Khalip, Severinets, Martselev

May 16, 2011 The judge of the Zavodsky District Court of Minsk City Zhanna Brysina has passed the judgment in relation to Irina Khalip, Pavel Severinets, and Sergey Marcelev, who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions).

Irina Khalip was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years;

Pavel Severinets was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 3 years in prison with the direct to the open-type institutions;

Sergey Martselev was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participating in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years in prison with the adjournment of the court decision for 2 years.

Case of Doronin, Kazakov, Loban, Matsukevich, Sekret, Fedorkevich

May 12, 2011 The judge of the Moskovsky District Court of Minsk City Elena Shilko has passed the judgment in relation to Dmitriy Doronin, Sergey Kazakov, Vladimir Loban, Vitaly Matsukevich, Evgeniy Secret, Oleg Fedorkevich, who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the participation in mass riots).

Dmitriy Doronin was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Sergey Kazakov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Vladimir Loban was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Vitaly Matsukevich was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Evgeniy Secret was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Oleg Fedorkevich was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime.

Case of Kirkevich, Vonogradov, Protasenia, Homichenko

May 5, 2011 The judge of the Oktiabrsky District Court of Minsk City Alla Bulash has passed the judgment in relation to Ales’ Kirkevich, Pavel Vinogradov, Dmitriy Drozd, Andrey Protasenia, and Vladimir Homichenko, who were convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the participation in mass riots).

Ales Kirkevich was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 4 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Pavel Vinogradov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 4 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Dmitriy Drozd was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Andrey Protasenia was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Vladimir Homichenko was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime.

Case of Bondarenko

April 27, 2011 The judge of the Pervomaisky District Court of Minsk City Tatiana Revinskaya has passed the judgment in the relation to Dmitriy Bondarenko, who was convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participation in such actions).

Dmitry Bondarenko was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 1 art. 342 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the organization of the mass actions, which roughly violate public order or participation in such actions) and was condemned to 2 years with serving his sentence in the colony of common regime.

Case of Lihovid

March 29, 2011The judge of the Partizansky District Court of Minsk City Natalia Pykina has passed the judgment in the relation to Nikita Lihovid, who was convicted of a crime in accordance with the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (the participation in mass riots).

Nikita Lihovid was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime.

Case of Dashkevich and Lobov

March 24, 2011 The judge of the Moskovskiy District Court of Minsk City Elena Shilko has passed the judgment in relation to Dmitriy Dashkevich and Eduard Lobov, who was convicted of a crime in accordance with the art. 329 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (hooliganism).

Dmitry Dashkevich was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 339 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (hooliganism, condemned by the group of persons, or connected with resistance to person, suppressed hooliganism actions, or attended by less serious harm (malicious hooliganism) and was condemned to 2 years in prison in colony of common regime.

Eduard Lobov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 3 art. 339 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (actions, foreseen by the paragraphs 1-2 of this article, condemned with the weapon, other items, using in the capacity of weapon for doing injuries, using by explosions or explosive facilities or condemned with threat of their using with absence of the features of more serious crime (malicious hooliganism) and was condemned to 4 years in prison colony of intensified regime.

Case of Breus and Gaponov

March 10, 2011 The judge of the Moskovskiy District Court of Minsk City Lubov Simakhina has passed the judgment in the relation to russian citizens Artem Breus and Ivan Gaponov for the participation in the mass peaceful demonstration on December 19, 2010.

Artem Breus and Ivan Gaponov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to fine of 300 base amount (~3000$)

Case of Medved

March 10, 2011 The judge of the Moskovskiy District Court of Minsk City Elena Rydnitskaya has passed the judgment in the relation to Dmitry Gaponov for the participation in the mass peaceful demonstration on December 19, 2010.

Dmitriy Medved was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3 years of freedom restriction without sending to custodial institution.

Case of Otroschenkov, Molchanov, Novik

March 2, 2001 The judge of the Frunzenski District Court of Minsk City Tatiana Cherkas has passed the judgment in relation to Aleksandr Otroshenkov, Aleksandr Molchanov and Dmitriy Novik for the participation in the mass peaceful demonstration on December 19, 2010.

Aleksandr Otrochenkov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 4 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Aleksandr Molchanov was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 (participation in mass riots) and art. 370 (outrage upon state symbols) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus and was condemned to 3 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime;

Dmitriy Novik was found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 3,5 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime.

Case of Parfenkov

February 17, 2011 The judge of the Frunzenskiy District Court of Minsk City Olga Komar has passed the judgment in relation to Vasiliy Parfenkov for the participation in the mass peaceful demonstration on December 19, 2010.

Vasiliy Parfenkovwas found guilty of the crime of the paragraph 2 art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus of the participation in mass riots and was condemned to 4 years with serving his sentence in the colony of intensified regime.