'Graffiti case' defendants cover losses and get released


Authors of ‘Belarus must be Belarusian graffiti have been released from prison with travel restrictions, but investigation continues.

Four people were detained for property damage and hooliganism. They were suspected of damaging an advertisement with the picture of police officers, belonging to an individual entrepreneur, causing him damages of at least 2 million BYR. It all happened in July.

They were also suspected of placing on a number of facilities in different parts of the city the inscriptions and images, which allegedly advocated violence in society and disregard the generally accepted rules of behavior, in particular in the form of a silhouette of a man who throws a Molotov cocktail, BelaPAN reports.

 Two members of the group were accused of hooliganism committed by a group of persons (Art. 2, Art. 339 of the Criminal Code) and placed in custody.

According to the Investigative Committee, the accused pleaded guilty in the alleged acts, sincerely repented and compensated losses in full. Explaining the motives of their actions to the investigator, one of the suspects said the damaged billboards because of resentment toward the police.

Considering the testimony of the accused, their repentance and compensation for the losses, as well as the fact that the accused will not be able to affect further criminal investigation, the investigation turned to the prosecutor with a request to change the measure of restraint. As a result, the detainees were released on parole and good behavior.

A week ago, the Investigative Committee said that in the course of a criminal investigation it was found that the defendants spread extremist material on the Internet with the promotion of aggressive, violent acts against law enforcement; the materials contained appeals, urging citizens to riot; arrogant and insulting nicknames of people along ethnic lines. These statements insulted the veterans of the Great Patriotic War, according to the investigation.

It was announced that the actions of the group containing elements of a crime under Art. 130 of the Criminal Code (incitement to racial, national or religious enmity) are being investigated. This topic of today’s report of the Investigative Committee did not receive development.

BelaPAN, belsat.eu/en/

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