Will person involved in Process of Fourteen be amnestied?
3- 21.08.2008, 9:41
An activist of the opposition Alyaksei Bondar, who had been sentenced to 2 years of restriction of freedom in the “Process of Fourteen”, has stated that he would seek amnesty of all punished for protest rallies of market vendors in Minsk in January.
“I’d better not give such a positive meaning to release of Kazulin, Parsyukevich and Kim. We should fight for an amnesty in the “Process of Fourteen”, the activist said in an interview to European Radio for Belarus.
Alyaksei Bondar is determined as well to fight for overturning the conviction of Andrei Kim who had received the harshest sentence. Bondar also calls all the released “hostages of the regime” in the face of the West, and is convinced that such actions in no way could be a signal of democratization or other positive changes.
As we have informed, on July 22 the judicial bench of Minsk city court has upheld verdicts to activists punished for participation in the meeting of entrepreneurs on January 10.
They were Andrei Kim, Mikhail Pashkevich, Mikhail Kryvau, Uladzimer Syarheyeu, Anton Kopijsh, Tatsyana Tsishkevich, Ales Straltsou, Alyaksandr Bondar, Artsyom Dubsky and Ales Charnyshou.
Lawyers insisted that the verdict to them was groundless, and that video footage used by investigators, as well as a number of other proofs, were made illegally. However the judicial bench consisting of the chairman Uladzimer Nazaranka and judges Syarhei Khrypach and Valyantsina Kryvaja affirmed a court decision of the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk made in April 2008.
As we have informed, the young activist Andrei Kim was sentenced to one and a half year in penal colony by the Central district court of Minsk. Other participants of the “Process of Fourteen”, Alyaksei Bondar, Artsyom Dubski, Mikhal Kryvau, Mikhal Pashkevich, Ales Straltsou, Ales Charnyshou, Tatsyana Tishkevich, were sentenced to restriction of freedom for 2 years. Anton Koipish and Uladzimir Syarheeu were fined of 100 basic units. The judgement was given by Alena Illyina.
On May 27 the court of the Tsentralny district of Minsk sentenced Mikhas Subach and Paval Vinahradau, participants of the protest action of entrepreneurs, to two years of restraint of liberty without sending them to penitentiary institutions. One more figure in the “Process of Fourteen”, minor Maksim Dashuk got 1 ½ years of restraint of liberty. The judgement was given by Valery Yesman.
