10 days for leaflets dedicated to market vendors’ protest rally

Civic activist Mikola Serhienka was arrested for 10 days. The verdict was passed by Judge Yuliya Shumskaya (Leninski district of Minsk). In the court policemen claimed that on December 6th the activist swore at police officers in the office of the Belarusian Congress of Democratic Trade Unions.

RFE/RL reports, Mikola Serhienka did not plead guilty. On December 6th he was in the office of the Democratic Congress of Trade Unions. Previously leaflets with the appeal to entrepreneurs to take part in the rally on October Square were brought there. Suddenly policemen stormed into the office: they confiscated the leaflets and took everybody to the police department of Leninski district allegedly for identification.

Mikola Serhienka says, reports were drawn up against him and the leader of the trade union of entrepreneurs Alexander Makaeu. They were charged with swearing at policemen. “But it is an obvious lie,” Mikola Serhienka said.

The trial over Alexander Makaeu did not take place because the entrepreneur is serving the sentence of 7 days for a standard charge of “using foul language”. He was detained in the morning of December 10th before the rally of market vendors. He was one of the applicants for the rally.