Patriot Andrei Bialiauski Exhibited New Charge

The authorities are trying to charge the patriot of "illegal storage of ammunition."

One of the defendants of the recently closed "patriots' case" Andrei Bialiauski, against whom a criminal case was initiated "for the storage of a cartridge", is charged under Part 2 of Art. 295 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus (Illegal manufacture, acquisition, transfer into possession, sale, storage, transportation, transfer or carrying of firearms, ammunition, explosives, etc.). Bialiauski told HRC Viasna activists about it on December 12, after another interrogation in the Investigative Committee.

The possible punishment under this article is correctional labor for up to two years, or arrest for up to three months, or restriction of freedom for up to five years, or imprisonment for up to seven years with confiscation of property or without confiscation.

The only cartridge that has been collecting dust in the closet as a souvenir for many years, can become a reason for a long-term imprisonment of the former "patriots’ case" figurant.

During the interrogation, Andrei Bialiauski passed to the investigator, who is conducting the case, a request to stop the criminal prosecution and to recognize his possessing of the cartridge as not representing public danger and legally insignificant.