'Legalize Belarus' activist tried for faked picket


The police detained activist Piotr Markelau for a fake picket photo. The case was sent for revision.

On May 31, a photo of Piotr holding a poster against the background of the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a request to block the IP address of the MIA website, was published by “Dzeya”.

On June 1, Piotr Markelau was detained for picketing near the building of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, later the first court session took place in Minsk. The activist was accused of violating the law of holding mass events. At the hearing, the judge decided to send the case for revision.

Markelau was taken to the temporary detention facility, waiting for a new trial.

Later, judge Tatsiana Matyl, who heard the administrative case initiated against Piotr Markelau for “violating the procedure for holding mass events,” sent a protocol compiled by police officers against the activist, for revision. Markelau was released from custody.

Markelau said that this was a planned action. There was an intention to show that the site legalize.by is being blocked, that the police are not dealing with real criminals, but are looking for photos on the Internet. He also wanted to draw attention to the shortcomings of the Belarusian judicial system.

“There were no witnesses. Only on the basis of news posted on the ‘the-village’ website the protocol was drawn up,” said Markelau.

The activist does not understand, why the case was sent for revision, but not closed, but he believes that the court does not want to give people the reason to think that the Interior Ministry can be wrong.

The site ‘Legalize Belarus’ was blocked on May 18. The Ministry of Information claimed it had blocked the site because of the materials posted there promoted the use of marijuana. The site legalize.by told about the activities of the ‘Legalize Belarus’ campaign.

belsat.eu

 

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