Yauheny Kontush: Unable to find guilty persons, police detain any activists

The Tsentralny district court issued a fine of 2 million rubles to Aliaksandr Hulevich, a member of the National Bolshevik Party.

Cases of two other activists of the movement – Dzmitry Paliyenka and Yauheny Kontush – were sent back for revising, BelaPAN news agency learnt from human rights activist Anastasia Loika.

The cases of Dzmitry Paliyenka and Aliaksandr Huylevich were heard by judges Aliaksandr Yakuchykhin and Viktoria Shabunia respectively.

The activists of the National Bolshevik Party were detained this morning on suspicion of taking part in a picket near the Ministry of Defence.

Dzmitry Paliyenka's case was sent back for revising, because the police report didn't say what provision of the law on mass events the activist violated.

“All of us were charged with unsanctioned picketing,” he said. “But the judges sent the case back.”

The trial over Yauheny Kontush was adjourned. The activist was taken to the Tsentralny district police department, where errors in the police report were fixed. The trial was resumed, but the judge sent the case back. The activist was set free.

“Five plainclothes police officers came to me when I was leaving home at 8 in the morning,” the young man says. “They neither introduced themselves nor explained why they needed to detain me. They just ordered me to get into their car and took me to the Tsentralny police department. I was told there that I was charged with participating in a picket of National Bolsheviks on August 6 near the Ministry of Defence. I didn't attend the picket. I tried to prove it to the court. They held me in the police department for the whole day, then took me to the court, but my case was sent back for revising.

The police don't want this picket to go unpunished, but they cannot find the real participants. So they detain any activists to bring them to responsibility.”

Activists of the National Bolshevik Party hung out a banner “Down with army of slaves” on the fence near the Ministry of Defence and scattered leaflets describing disadvantages of compulsory military service and benefits of a volunteer army.