Iryna Khalip appealed against court verdict

Iryna Khalip, a journalist and wife of a candidate in the presidential election in Belarus, Andrei Sannikov, has filed a cassation appeal against the verdict to Minsk city court.

We remind that on May 16 Iryna Khalip was sentenced to 2 years of restriction of freedom with 2 years of suspension of execution. She is convicted in the framework of the case related to so-called mass riots on December 19, 2010 under article 342 part 1 of the Criminal Code (organising and preparation of actions blatantly violating public order, or active participation in such actions).

As Khalip told to BelaPAN, she filed an appeal on May 24. “It is a so-called preliminary appeal,” the journalist stressed. “The fact is, that we have not received the minutes of judgement with my lawyer. It was to be given to us within 5 days, and now is the 9th day. We do not know what these minutes contain, are there our counter-arguments, arguments that the verdict is illegal, and so on.”

After studying the minutes of judgment, Minsk city court will receive a more carefully argued appeal, Khailp said.

A co-chairman of the organizing committee for creation of the Belarusian Christian Democracy Party Paval Sevyarynets, Vital Rymasheuski’s campaign chief, Syarhei Martsaleu, a campaign chief of the former presidential candidate Mikalai Statkevich, who were involved in the same case with Iryna Khalip, are going to take an appeal from their verdicts as well. Sevyarynets has been sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment in an open-type institution, Martsaleu – to 2 years’ imprisonment with 2 years on probation.

As Martsaleu and Sevyarynets explained, they have time for filing cassational appeals for the period up to and including May 26.