BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
28/02/2008
Belarusian Authorities Fine More Activists, Prepare New Trial
A Minsk district court on February 27 fined small-business activists Alyaksandr Tstatsura and Viktar Kryval 1.75 million rubles ($817) each for allegedly disobeying "lawful orders of police officers," Belapan reported. The court also fined Tsatsura's wife and son 1.05 million rubles ($490) each on the same charge. The four were traveling on January 10 in Tsatsura's car to Minsk to take part in a demonstration against the presidential decree limiting the activities of certain small-business owners. The police stopped the car for violating traffic rules and took away Tsatsura's driving license. When they attempted to continue their trip on foot, the police arrested them and took to the police department in Minsk. Kryval's sentence was passed in absentia since he is serving a 15-day term for distributing "leaflets of an antigovernment nature." Meanwhile, the authorities are holding in pretrial detention Andrey Kim, a youth activist who was detained on January 21 and later sentenced to 10 days in jail for participation in an unsanctioned demonstration of small-business owners. After serving his term, Kim was not released but moved to pretrial detention and accused of threatening the police officer who detained him during the breakup of the January 21 demonstration. Investigator Zmitser Luhin has told RFE/RL's Belarus Service that on March 3 Kim will hear the evidence in his case. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-280208.asp
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