Mauliuda Atakulava sentenced to 10 days of jail for action of solidarity with Georgia

Liudmila Atakulava, a Young Front activist, has been sentenced to 10 days of administrative arrest for participation in a rally near the Russian Embassy on 11 August. The verdict has been passed by the court of Tsentralny district in Minsk.

Atakulava was charged with violation of rules of holding mass events (Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code).

As said by a Young Front activist Tatsiana Shaputska, ‘the trial was in fact held behind the closed doors’. ‘We weren’t told when the trial started. Our witnesses were not present in the court; the lawyer hadn’t managed to arrive yet. We saw Liudmila only when she was taken out of the court building. She could just shout to us that she had been sentenced to 10 days of arrest,’ Shaputska said.

The rally of solidarity with Georgia was held by the Young Front near the Russian Embassy in Minsk on August 11. 15 activists of the organization gathered near the Embassy with streamers: ‘Stop aggression’, ‘Russia-Georgia: war with peacekeeping goals?’ ‘One sixth part of land – is it not enough?’

Participants of the rally managed to pass the petition to officers of the embassy. The picket lasted for about 10 minutes. Then policemen arrived. Illia and Ivan Shyla, Andrei Tychyna and Liudvisia Atakulava were detained. Activists were detained brutally. Policemen had machine-guns, they were wringing hands of the activists. As a sign of protest, activists sat on the ground. As a result, policemen were to carry the activists to the police car in arms. The Young Front activists were taken to the police department of Tsentralny district of Minsk.