Minsk Resident Who Refused To Rent Apartment To Assistant Prosecutor Sentenced To Home Arrest

Volha Sineleva has two children.

33-year-old Minsker Volha Sineleva, who refused to rent an apartment to Minsk Frunzenski district prosecutor's assistant Alina Kasjanchyk, was sentenced to two years of arrest with serving the sentece at the place of residence, the human rights center "Viasna" reports. The sentence was announced today in the Zavadski district court of Minsk by judge Anzhela Kastsiukevich.

The trial began on June 18, but, in fact, it did not take place. At the trial it turned out that Volha Sineleva's lawyer Andrei Machalau had been disbarred, of which he learned in the courtroom.

At the beginning of the trial the prosecutor initiated holding the trial behind closed doors so as not to "harm" the assistant prosecutor and her family. The lawyer opposed, saying that the personal data of the victim are not in the materials of the case, and the state prosecutor personally knows the victim, which is why, in the opinion of the lawyer, he proposes to make the trial closed. After holding a consultation, the judge ruled that the trial would be held behind closed doors.

Volha has two children, one of whom is a baby, she had been under a written undertaking not to leave the place. She was accused of violating the equality of citizens under Article 190 of the Criminal Code.

According to human rights activists, there was no conflict between Sineleva and Kasjanchyk, the victim herself wrote an application to terminate the rental contract after a month, and two weeks later she filed a complaint to the police, who turned it down, having seen no grounds for a criminal case. She went to the Investigative Committee, who summoned Volha for questioning, and opened a criminal case under Art. 190 of the Criminal Code.

Alina Kasjanchyk, assistant prosecutor, has participated as a state prosecutor in many "political" trials. In particular, in the cases of Belsat journalists Katsiaryna Andreyeva and Darja Chultsova, who were sentenced to two years in prison each for streaming from the "Square of Changes" and the inscriptions "We will not forget" near the place of the death of Aliaksandr Taraikouski.