Igor Bancer sentenced to 13 days in jail

Beaten activist of the Union of Poles imprisoned for protest against Russification of the Polish school in Grodno.

A judge of the Leninski District Court in Hrodna on June 1 sentenced Igor Bancer, a member of the "unofficial" Union of Poles in Belarus (UPB), to a total of 13 days in jail over a over a protest staged in the city earlier in the day against the planned introduction of a Russian-language stream within a school attended by ethnic Poles.

“He was given 11 days in jail for participating in the unsanctioned protest and two days in jail for alleged disobedience to police officers,” UPB leader Andzelika Orechwo, who is Mr. Bancer's wife, told BelaPAN.

The woman said that her husband had been roughed up by police during the arrest. "He had swollen lips, has a black eye and blood on his head," she said. An ambulance was called to the police station as Mr. Bancer needed medical attention.

Some 20 people were also arrested during the protest, which took place in front of the building of the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee. At least nine of them were charged with participation in an unauthorized mass event.

The organizers had applied to the city authorities for permission for the protest, but the application had been turned down.

Hrodna's General Education School No. 36 uses the Polish language as the sole medium of instruction. The local education authorities plan to form two groups of students who will receive Russian-language teaching at the school.

Poland fully financed the construction of the school on condition that all subjects be taught in the Polish language.

Some 260 parents of children who attend the school have signed a petition against the introduction of the Russian-language stream.