Chief editor of Nash Mahilou newspaper to be tried

Trial against Ihar Barysau will be held in Mahilou’s Kastrychnitski district at 9:30 on July 29.

The case will be heard by judge Dzianis Kisihin, Viasna human rights centre learnt from the newspaper’s editor.

“I received a phone call from the court today. They asked if I had received a summons to appear for a trial on July 24. I haven’t received anything. I was on my way to the airport, and I have plans for the next week. I explained it to them, and the judge agreed to postpone the trial,” Ihar Barysau says.

District police officer Varantsou called Barysau next day and said there wouldn’t be a trial on July 15, because the court hadn’t received the case yet. The police officers were going to send the case by mail, and the court was to close it due to the expiration of the limitation period. The trial will show whether this variant was chosen or the policemen invented something new.

Four police officers and two witnesses came to search Ihar Barysau’s flat on March 13. Three computers, a modem and a notebook were seized. The same policemen visited the Mahilou office of Viasna human rights centre and seized three computers for an examination.

The reason for the search was a complaint by the director of Mahilou-based company Lenta, who found libel against him in an article on the website of Nash Mahilou. The article wrote that the director lost his flat and a part of the company’s shares at a casino.

The computers were examined by the police, and a linguistic analysis of the article was carried out. The police failed to prove that Ihar Barysau bears relation to the article. The linguistic analysis didn’t find libel against the director. The probe was closed, but the police opened two new cases when Barysau tried to return the computers.