Businessman Aliaksandr Makayeu fined 9 million rubles

The court of Minsk's Tsentralny district found Aliaksandr Makayeu guilty of violating the order of organising and holding mass events.

BelaPAN learned it from his wife Yuliya Stsiapanava.

The court accused Aliaksandr Makayeu of participating in a meeting of traders of the Zhdanovichy market in Minsk on March 1. They were discussing their further actions in new conditions – selling uncertified light industry goods is forbidden in Belarus since March 1.

Makayeu was detained at the market by the police and taken to a local police station. The businessman was set free after a conversation with Artur Shakhlai, the chief of the Tsentralny district police department, and giving written explanations regarding the meeting.

Police officers took Aliaksandr Makayeu to the Tsentralny district police department when he went out to buy cigarettes on March 2. Earlier, Makayeu received a phone call from an anonymous man, who said he had “important information” for him. The man tried to arrange a meeting. Makayeu and Stsiapanava decided the police were trying to identify Aliaksandr's whereabouts in such a way. They suggested that Aliaksandr would be sent to a detention centre and began to pack a bag.

In late January, Minsk's Tsentralny district court found Makayeu guilty of participating in a picket to pay tribute to the memory of the Heavenly Hundred that was held in Minsk on the evening of January 22. He was sentenced to 15 days in custody.