‘Frenchman With Cartridge’: I Will Return To Belarus When Lukashenka Is No Longer President

The interpreter for Frenchman Jolan Viaud, who stood trial in Homel, chose to disregard the Frenchman's words about the Belarusian dictator during translation.

Today, the Homel district court found citizen of France Jolan Viaud, who had spent almost two months behind the bars, not guilty. The Frenchman was released in the courtroom. When asked by reporters upon the release if he would visit Belarus once again, Viaud said: "When one day Lukashenka is no longer the president, why not?" The interpreter did not dare to pronounce what he said, Euroradio reports.

The Frenchman told the reporters that it was cold in his cell over the past two weeks because the central heating was switched off. He also saw rats and cockroaches.

Jolan Viaud is not going to take measures to win compensation for damages and for what he had to endure when in Belarusian pretrial detention center.

The 24-year-old France national and a resident of London was detained on 21 September at a Belarus-Ukraine border post when he was on his way from Lithuania to Ukraine. He was accused of an attempt to smuggle a cartridge (that he thought was a dummie souvenir) and faced up to 7 years in prison for alleged illegal transportation of weapons and toxical substances. The prosecutor asked to award a fine (Bn 6 900) and release him. The court, however, found the Frenchman not guilty.