Alexander Barazenka is sentenced to one year of personal restraint

The hearings on the criminal case against Alexander Barazenka at Tsentralny district court came to an end. Procurator Tsikhavets demanded that the accused was sentenced to 18 months of personal restraint without direction to an open prison. Alexander Barazenka did not take the blame.

According to Radio Racyja, in the morning the court questioned four witnesses: the head of the law and order section of Minsk police department Alexander Karziuk and the headmasters of the transport enterprises working on the routes crossing the Nezalezhnastsi Avenue. One of the latter, Siarhei Hrydziushka, said that his enterprise had not suffered any loss because of the protest action of entrepreneurs, as the drivers of his taxis had almost immediately changed their routes. Raman Bulychau, headmaster of another transport enterprise, stated that the work of public transport in Minsk is interrupted everyday. Such interruptions also happen due to the movement of Alexander Lukashenka’s cortege from his residence in the Drazdy suburb to his working place. ‘That’s why’, said the witness, ‘there’s no use speaking about any loss to the enterprise’.

The court also examined the video materials shot by the police during the protest action. However, there was nothing witnessing Barazenka’s active participation. The defendant did not give any explanations during today’s hearings. He only said that he felt alright and seriously hoped for a mild verdict.