Shchuchyn: representatives of Union of Poles sentenced to fines (photos)

Shchuchyn District Court heard today the administrative cases against the leader of the Union of Poles in Belarus Mieczyslaw Jaskiewicz and member of the organization Wieranika Siebascianowicz. Both were charged with organizing an unauthorized mass event.

The trial lasted for more than five hours. As a result of the trial, which brought together more than 50 activists of the Union of Poles, journalists and human rights activists, Mieczyslaw Jaskiewicz was fined 40 basic units, 4 mln rubles, and Wieranika Siebascianowicz – 2 mln rubles.

The two administrative cases were combined into a single trial presided by Judge Maksim Halubovich. The defense was represented by Uladzimir Kisialevich, who was the counsel for Ms. Siebascianowicz, a 82-year-old pensioner from the town of Skidzel. In Stalin’s time, the woman was sentenced to 25 years in a Soviet concentration camp for participation in The Armia Krajowa, and served four years, as a result.

During the trial, the Judge examined the witnesses, and screened a video of May 12, when a service was held on a private farm in the village of Rachkaushchyna near Bakshty, and a memorial cross was opened in honor of an Armia Krajowa representative, Anatol Radziwonik, who was killed by KGB agents in 1949. Testimony of the policemen were quite restrained, other witnesses stated that they saw nothing illegal in the memorial action. There was only the odious letter by the head of the manager of the village council of Bakshty named Halushka, who did not turn up, only sending a written testimony alleging “dissatisfaction of the local residents with the installation of the cross.”