Vitsebsk activists lose their case and fail to get to trial over Haidukou
A member of the
Conservative Christian Party BPF Yan Dzyarzhautsau and the head of
the Vitebsk branch of the BPF Leanid Avtukhou came to the Vitsebsk
Regional Court where their appeals against verdicts of lower
courts. They weren't
allowed to the second floor where the second hearing on the criminal
case against civic activist Andrei Haidukou was about to begin. The
cassation appeals were considered for just 15 minutes. Judge Iryna
Smaliakova stated that the appeals were to be dismissed.
"The
court ignored my arguments that I didn't picket, but just expressed
my opinion about the inadmissibility of the construction of the
nuclear power plant in Belarus, though I just exercised my
constitutional right to freedom of expression," commented
Yan Dziarzhautsau. As a
result, the ruling of the Kastrychnitski District Court of Vitsebsk
according to which Mr. Dziarzhautsau was fined 2 million rubles, was
left in force.
Leanid
Autukhou intended to appeal against the verdict of the Kastrychnitski
District Court of Vitsebsk by which he was found guilty of violating
the law on mass media. However, according to Mr. Autukhou, the judge
immediately started asking him about his case, whereas he asked her
to either provide him with an interpreter into the Belarusian
language, or to speak Belarusian. Iryna Smaliakova responded by
taking a copy of the school record out of his case, saying that he
learned the Russian language at school and therefore didn't need any
interpreter.
Leanid Autukhou asked why the judge hadn't
informed him about his rights at the beginning of the sitting,
including the right to use his mother tongue and the right to use
interpreter's assistance at the trial. She answered that Autukhou
took part in trials thrice a month and therefore knew his rights well
enough. Mr. Autukhou apologized and left the court room. The
decision about the dismissal of his appeal was issued in his absence.
Knowing that the
case of Andrei Haidukou, charged with "high treason", was
considered at the Vitsebsk Regional Court, the
activist tried to get to teh trial. However, they weren't even let to
the second floor. There were more police guards then usual. According
to the activists, they behaved rudely, hampering the work of
journalists, pushing girls and threatening to take everybody to the
police station.