Milinkevich Faces Ban on Traveling Abroad
Leader of the democratic forces Alexander Milinkevich is obliged to pay a fine of 4 million 650 thousand BYR. He was fined by the court of Kastrychnitski district of Minsk, allegedly for “intentional illegal crossing of the state border”. Today Milinkevich has received a copy of the court verdict and a warning that he is obliged to pay the fine before February 10, otherwise Milinkevich would face a ban for leaving Belarus.
On January 25 the court of Kastrychnitski district of Minsk fined the leader of the united democratic forces 150 basic units (4 mln 650 thousand rubles, or $2,173) for alleged intentional illegal crossing the state border. The trial was held in Milinkevich’s absence. Milinkevich learned about the trial while on a business trip to Vilnius where he had a meeting with the Lithuanian Foreign Minister.
On November 26-29 the leader of the democratic forces took part in the NATO summit in Riga on invitation of Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga. On his departure from Minsk, border guards stamped his son’s passport by mistake. His name is Alexander Milinkevich too. It was noticed only when the politician returned back. Border guards haven’t recognized their mistake. They accused Milinkevich of intentional crossing of the border with invalid documents.
The politician is going to challenge the ruling of the regional court.
“It is a serious mistake for a border guard not to notice that it was not my passport. It is obvious, and the fact of the border guard’s inattention is reflected in the court’s verdict. There is no doubt who is to blame, and who is to incur liability. Nobody is going to execute the politically motivated ruling of the court. I believe that at the moment the regime is using the trial with an attempt to limit my activities,” Alexander Milinkevich stated.
