Minsk City Court confirms one-year verdict for Vasil Parfiankou
Vasil Parfiankou. Photo by euroradio.fm.
The Minsk City Court heard today an appeal filed in the case of political prisoner Vasil Parfiankou. As a result, the verdict of Pershamaiski District Court was upheld and the appeal was dismissed.
On May 29, 2012 the Pershamaiski District Court of Minsk sentenced Vasil Parfiankou to six months of arrest under Art. 421 of the Criminal Code (breaching preventive police supervision set by the court).
On December 5, 2013 the same court repeatedly convicted Vasil Parfiankou on the same charges and sentenced him to one year's imprisonment to be served in a maximum security penal colony.
Now Vasil Parfiankou is in Zhodzina jail, where, according to preliminary data, he is awaiting transfer to a colony in Horki, Mahiliou region.
The Human Rights Center "Viasna" and the Belarusian Helsinki Committee regard the sentencing of opposition activist Vasil Parfiankou to imprisonment for violation of preventive supervision as politically motivated persecution.
During today's court session Parfiankou’s lawyer stated that the decision of the court of December 5 was unreasonable because it was imposed for his active citizenship, and the judgment was based only on the testimony of police witnesses.
The counsel also requested medical tests for her client, because, according to Parfiankou, the previous outpatient examination was conducted "in a purely formal manner".
