DPR militant from Rechitsa sentenced to 2 years


On 16 November, 2017, a 41-year-old resident of Rechitsa was sentenced by the Homiel regional court for taking part in the hostilities in the territory of a foreign state. The hearings lasted for two weeks.

According to the court representative, the defendant was found guilty of involvement in an armed formation of one of the warring parties, as well as involvement in armed conflict, hostilities, without the authorization of the state and in the absence of signs of a crime under Article 133 of the Criminal Code (mercenaries). Based on the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, he was sentenced to 2 years of restriction of freedom in the open type institution.

Before the sentence comes into legal force, the preventive measure for the resident of Rechitsa will be travel restrictions — he was released from custody in the courtroom. The verdict has not been enforced yet and may be appealed.

According TUT.by, Vitali Mitrofanov was on the territory of the DPR from April to June 2017. According to the investigation, he guarded various warehouses and conducted combat duty within an armed group. In early July, the man returned to Belarus and a few weeks later he was arrested and taken into custody.

The accused man is married, he was previously convicted. Despite the fact that the man has Belarusian citizenship, he is a native of Russia city of Nizhnevartovsk.

During the trial, Mitrofanov admitted his guilt and repented.

This is the second conviction for participation in the war in Donbas. On September 26, the Vitsebsk regional court sentenced the 29-year-old Alyaksey Yarshou from Pastavy to 2 years of house arrest. The proceedings were held behind closed doors. In an interview to belsat.eu Yarshu said he had taken part in the hostilities on the side of the DPR from March 2016 to May 2017. A month after the verdict, Yarshou returned to Donbas to fight against Ukraine once again.

TWITTER