Court freed Iryna Khalip from serving the sentence

The journalist was freed from the criminal punishment after the sentence’s postponement had expired.

Such a decision was taken by the court of Minsk’s Partisan district on 19 July.

Iryna Khalip’s trial started today at 9.30 at the Partizan court of Minsk. The court was supposed to make the decision of whether to release Iryna Khalip, or send her to a penal colony, or leave in the same status for a certain time. The judge forbad photo- and video shooting during the proceedings. As the result the criminal executive inspection passed a motion to free the journalist from serving the sentence. The prosecutor and the judge supported the motion.

We would remind that on 16 May 2011 the wife of a former presidential candidate Andrei Sannikov was sentenced to two years in prison with a postponement of the punishment for two years.

She was sentenced in the framework of the case of the so-called mass disturbances in Minsk on 19 December 2010 according to the part 1 of the article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization and preparation of the activities, which blatantly violate public order, or active participation in such activities).

The journalist did not have the right to leave Minsk and was obliged to register herself at a police station weekly at be home after 10 p.m.

In the meanwhile Lukashenka repeatedly stated that Iryna Khalip could leave the country and promised to arrange for such an opportunity for her.

On 13 February Iryna Khalip was allowed to go to Great Britain for meeting her husband and to Russia to participate in editorial activities of the Novaya Gazeta, for which she works. She returned to Belarus on 3 April within the time period, provided by the surveillance agencies.