Trade union leader fined

Henadz Fiadynich, leader of the Trade Union of Radio Electronic Industry, has been fined BYR 1,400,000 for organizing the People’s Assembly on 8 October, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reports.

Mr. Fiadynich was detained at Minsk airport while boarding a plane to Prague this morning and taken to Savetski District Court, which found him guilty of violating mass events holding procedures.

“The Judge made evident mistakes. The testimony by the policemen who acted as witnesses was inconsistent. It looked like it had been pre-arranged. Anyway, we are going to appeal the verdict. It’s curious that the policemen now know that one has to collect 10 per cent of local residents’ signatures to hold a People’s Assembly, which is a good result of our work,” says Mr. Fiadynich.