Minsk City Court quashes fine for peaceful protests

Viachaslau Siuchyk, the leader of the Razam opposition movement, has won an appeal to the Minsk City Court against the Centraĺny District Court, which fined the politician 10.8 mln rubles on charges of being involved in two illegal protests staged in Minsk on September 23 and October 4.

The Minsk City Court has ruled to cancel the ruling and send the case for retrial. The judge said he took into account the claimant’s arguments, including the fact that he and his counsel were not properly notified about the trial. The opposition activist also argued that his right to legal defense was violated.

Viachaslau Siuchyk also stressed in his appeal that when hearing his charges the judge interviewed as a witness the police officer who submitted the administrative offense report.

However, the claimant is not satisfied with the decision of the Minsk City Court.

“There are no grounds for initiating any administrative proceedings, and my appeal explained all this very well. Under the pressure of formal violations, the Minsk City Court overturned the apparently unlawful decision. But it sent the case back to the same District Court, although to a different judge. I’ve had similar stories before: another judge would issue an illegal decision once again proving that I supposedly committed an administrative offense,” says the activist.

Viachaslau Siuchyk returned to Belarus on September 15 after five years of self-imposed exile in Ukraine.