Trial of Andrei Haidukou behind closed doors

The trial of political prisoner Andrei Haidukou begins today.

Court hearings would be held behind closed doors, KGB chief Valery Vakulchyk said recently.

He noted: “I think the people who defended him will feel uncomfortable when the court pronounces its decision.”

“He didn't commit the crime he wanted to commit, because he was caught in time. It's a classical case. Everything was done properly,” the KGB chief said.

Andrei Haidukou, who is charged with “treason”, will stand trial in the Vitebsk regional trial. The opposition activist was transferred to Vitebsk some days ago. His relatives were denied visit to him.

Officially, Andrei Haidukou was detained as he was “installing a dead drop with the information interesting for foreign security services”. Many find the accusation absurd.

The civil campaign European Belarus released a statement saying the activist was detained for distributing Charter'97 newspaper. Human rights activists link Haidukou's prosecution to his opposition views and explain it by an attempt to scare young activists.