Political prisoner Artsiom Sauchuk sentenced to 4 years in prison

Judge Yuliya Blizniuk of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk has sentenced political prisoner Artsiom Sauchuk to 4 years in a medium-security penal colony, finding him guilty under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code.

Sauchuk was accused of “grossly violating public order” on August 10, blocking traffic, joining clashes with police officers, and throwing firecrackers and metal bolts.

On January 15, Sauchuk’s friend Artsiom Khvashcheuski, also a political prisoner, with whom he was at the protest that evening, was sentenced to one year in a general-security penal colony.

Artsiom Sauchuk consistently maintained that that evening he did not commit any illegal actions, but only watched a peaceful demonstration. He said that he helped push several shopping carts, but stressed that he did not consider it a crime.

The political prisoner’s defense lawyer, Siarhei Lebedzeu, stressed that his client’s testimony was confirmed by CCTV footage.

“Both Artsiom and his friends gave fundamentally corresponding testimonies,” Sauchuk’s lawyer said. “When they were returning home, the traffic was blocked, so they parked their car on one of the streets and continued on foot. After there were explosions, they temporarily lost one another, but then reunited near the Tivali shopping center. There, Sauchuk helped unknown people move several supermarket carts. He did so only because they were pushing them with difficulty. He could not known that those carts could be used in illegal actions. The testimony is confirmed by photos and videos taken by Khvashcheuski on his phone.”

The lawyer also noted that both the investigators and the prosecutors erroneously used an expanded interpretation of the word “pogrom”, which he said never happened in today’s Belarus. He also said that taking the carts out the store and moving them 140 meters away could not be viewed as theft, since there was no motive and the supermarket did not suffer any losses. Besides, using carts outside the store is allowed by the rules of trade networks, he emphasized.

The videos examined at the trial also failed to confirm that Sauchuk allegedly shouted slogans near the pre-trial prison on Valadarski Street.