Ivashkevich under pressure to “repent” on Charter'97 website

A judge says Ivashkevich is obliged to pay 500,000 rubles and publish a denial of his previous statement on Charter'97 website.

The parties in a lawsuit “Maryna Tsybiyenka against Viktar Ivashkevich” met in the Savetski district court of Minsk on May 22.

Maryna Tsybiyenka, an employee of the Mozyr oil  refinery, filed a suit against politician Viktar Ivashkevich over his calls on European companies to boycott Belarusian oil products, Radio Svaboda reports.

Tsybiyenka wanted Ivashkevich to pay 500,000 rubles to compensate for the moral damage caused to her by Ivashevich's remarks. She also demanded him to stop calling to impose sanctions.

The suit was a ground to ban Viktar Ivashkevich from leaving Belarus.

Maryna Tsybiyenka works in shop No. 12 at the oil refinery in Mozyr. She is a operator and a trade union activist.

The court building was picketed by representatives of the official Federation of Trade Unions. 25 picketers held posters “Maryna, we are with you”, “Ivashkevich, do you have conscience?”, “Provocateurs calling to impose economic sanctions on Belarus must answer”, “Hands off labour collectives”, “We are against provocateurs from BCDTU”, “Economic sanctions are shame for Europe”.

BRSM activists and ten people from Mozyr joined the picket. Men in mufti were filming the events near the court building.

The suit was heard by judge Iryna Lyaukova. The courtroom was full with trade union activists.

Tsybiyenka asked the court to attach printouts of Charter website to the case.

Ivashkevich, for his part, refused to admit Tsybiyenka's demands.

“Did you file a suit after the devaluation that really damaged you? Did you budget suffer from a 35% increase in meat prices? Did you file a lawsuit? Do you know about the demands to release political prisoners? Why were these sanctions imposed?” Ivashkevich asked the woman. He explained to the court the EU introduced sanctions due to Belarusian political prisoners. “There are no grounds to link imposing sanctions to me.” Ivashkevich said.

“Any sanctions by the European Union do not hit workers. Superprofit goes to oligarchs Chizh and Peftiyev. Workers win nothing. You do not suffer from sanctions, because you receive miserable pay. Sanctions have no relation to you. It is the government, not Ivashkevich, who does not allow you to live a normal life,” the  politician said.

The trial ended at 1:00 pm. At 3:00 pm, the judge delivered a judgement obliging Ivashkevich to pay 500,000 rubles. The politician was also obliged to publish a denial of his previous statement on Charter'97 website.