Salihorsk Court found activist hard-mouthed man, but not hooligan

Local human rights activists found out new details of the case of the "European Belarus" activist Uladzimir Lemesh.

Earlier, Salihorsk District Court found him guilty under Article 17.1 of the Administrative Code and fined two basic units, but during the retrial in January, the case was dismissed "for not proved", Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

According to Leanid Markhotka, the Salihorsk BHC representative, the final court order found the activist innocent, but it was not clear why for the first time the Salihorsk District Court decided to justify the opposition activist.

–Because of study abroad Uladzimir has only now managed to get a motivating part to the decree. It turned out that considering the testimony of police witnesses, the judge Prakapovich, nevertheless, considered the fact of swearing by young activist in a public place, the human rights activist says. -However, the motivating part says that there was no evidence proving Uladzimir Lemesh had hooligan motives to swear.

"The police officers' explanations show that they did not try to find a motive of Lemesh's actions, other evidence that could indicate for sure that his actions were directed to disrespect society, and express disregard for others, were not available," the Court's decision says.

On his part, Uladzimir Lemesh himself categorically rejects a fact of conflict, but he welcomes the Court's decision to declare him innocent and terminate the case. The youth activist intends to get his money back for a fine already paid and receive compensation for illegal detention in the remand prison.