United Civic Party leaders sentenced to up to 30 months in jail
Antanina Kavaliova, Mikalai Kazlou, and Aksana Aliakseyeva were prosecuted for participating in the 2020 peaceful protests. | Spring96.org
The Pieršamajski District Court of Minsk has finished considering the criminal case against the opposition United Civic Party leaders: Aksana Aliakseyeva, Mikalai Kazlou, and Antanina Kavaliova. Political prisoners received 12 to 30 months in jail for participating in the 2020 protests.
Judge Anastasiya Kulik has led the trial; Ina Zubko supported the state prosecution. Political prisoners were accused of ‘actions that grossly violate the public order’ (Article 342 of the Criminal Code) by participating in a large-scale rally a few weeks after a rigged 2020 presidential election.
According to the prosecution, from 2:35 to 8:00 pm on August 23, 2020, Aliakseyeva, Kazlou, and Kavaliova “shouted slogans in public, loudly clapped their hands, stepped onto the roadway blocking and obstructing traffic including public transportation in Minsk.”
Today, on November 3, 2022, Judge Anastasiya Kulik pronounced the verdicts. Antanina Kavaliova got a 12-month jail term, Aksana Aliakseyeva was sentenced to 18 months, and Mikalai Kazlou received 30 months behind bars.
Thus, the court supported the prosecutor Ina Zubko, who had asked for exactly this punishment for the activists the day before, on November 2.
