Viasna leadership receives from 7 to 10 years in jail

Judge Maryna Zapasnik of the Lieninski District Court of Minsk decided that the guilt of human rights defenders of “smuggling by an organized group” under Part 4 Article 228 of the Criminal Code and “financing of group actions grossly violating the public order” under Part 2 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code has been fully proven.

She assigned the following terms to the Viasna leaders:

• Viasna chair and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ales Bialiatski received 10 years in a medium-security penal colony
• Viasna deputy chair and vice-president of FIDH Valiantsin Stefanovic received 9 years in a medium-security penal colony
• Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign coordinator Uladzimir Labkovich received 7 years in a medium-security penal colony
• human rights defender Zmitser Salauyou was sentenced to 8 years in a penal colony (in absentia)

The sentences imposed are two years less than those requested by prosecutor Aliaksandr Karol. Stefanovic, Labkovich, and Salauyou were also fined 111,000 Belarusian rubles (approx. $41,300), while the chairman of Viasna was fined 185,000 rubles (approx. $69,000), as the prosecutor requested. The court also ordered to collect from the defendants 752,438 rubles 62 kopecks (almost $297,650), which they had allegedly “obtained by criminal means” through “smuggling by an organized criminal group”. It was this amount that appeared in the charges under Part 4 of Article 228 of the Criminal Code. (UPD This version of the article contains clarified amounts of fines, which differ from those originally published)

The verdict has not come into force yet, human rights activists can appeal it.

Viasna members on trial: A day-by-day chronology of the court

Four human rights defenders are being tried: the Viasna chairman and Nobel Peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski, his deputy Valiantsin Stefanovich, and the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign coordinator Uladzimir Labkovich are in the dock while Zmitser Salauyou, who had to leave Belarus, will be tried in absentia. They are charged with “smuggling by an organized group” under Part 4 Article 228 of the Criminal Code and “financing of group actions grossly violating the public order” under Part 2 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code.

During the pronouncement of the verdict, the human rights defenders stayed handcuffed with their arms twisted behind their backs. Previously all of them pleaded not guilty.

On the eve of the sentencing, 21 international human rights organizations released a statement demanding the release of human rights defenders and the dropping of all charges against them.

Solidarity actions are taking place abroad today to protest the unlawful conviction and criminalization of human rights defense activities in Belarus.