Trial of Aksana Novikava Postponed to 15 September

On 8 September Aksana Novikava was detained near Minsk City Court before the beginning of the trial on liquidation of the public association “Legal Assistance to Population”. She was holding the poster “We Demand Independent Trial”. Policemen from Frunzenskaye District Board of Internal Affairs told her to fold up the poster. Aksana Novikava refused to do it, was detained and taken to Frunzenskaye DBIA.

At 3.30 on 8 September the trial of her started at Minsk Frunzenski Borough Court.

During the trial there appeared some contradictions: in the detention report it was said that A. Novikava was detained for participation in meeting, though there was no traits of such participation in her actions. That’s why the trial was postponed to 15 September.

We should remind that in April 2003 Aksana Novikava was sentenced to two years of conditional imprisonment with two years of probation for “defamation of President of Belarus”.