Vitsebsk Regional Court confirms fine to activist Piotr Ivanov

Vitsebsk Regional Court has heard an appeal lodged by Piotr Ivanov to contest the ruling by Judge Valiantsina Kismiaroshkina of Pershamaiski District Court who fined the activist for allegedly providing false testimony against traffic police and disobeying police officers. As a result, the regional court decided that the decision of the district court was legal.

On April 17 Pershamaiski District Court fined Piotr Ivanov twice - one fine of 2 million was handed down for allegedly stating false facts in his complaint of a traffic violation by a police car. The other fine dealt with disobeying police officers who forcibly dragged him to court for perjury. Neither in the first nor in the second case, Piotr Ivanov admitted his guilt. He says Judge Kismiaroshkina’s verdict involved gross violations of the Procedural Executive Code, and asked the Regional Court to overturn the decision. However, his namesake, the judge of the Regional Court Sviatlana Ivanova upheld the ruling.

All the motions by Piotr Ivanov were rejected, even audio recording of the court session was forbidden. Yet, it was a recording made during a trial at the District Court that Piotr Ivanov demonstrated to the judge as evidence of a breach on the part of the judge: the record shows that Judge Kismiaroshkina read out her judgment, saying that the activist has previous administrative convictions, while the corrected printed version of the court ruling suggests that he was never brought to administrative responsibility.