According to the indictment, the Nasha Niva staff paid their utility bills incorrectly: not as legal entities, but as individuals.
On February 28, a Minsk court heard a case of Nasha Niva editor-in-chief Yahor Martsinovich and the head of marketing and advertising department Andrey Skurko. Twelve people, half of whom were security officers, were admitted to the trial. Foreign diplomats were also admitted to the trial.
Martsinovich and Skurko were detained on July 8, 2021, held in captivity for six months, and recognized as political prisoners. On the same day, Andrey Dynko, editor-in-chief of Nasha Historia magazine, affiliated with Nasha Niva, was detained but was released on July 21 on his own recognizance.
As announced in court, Andrey Skurko “acted by prior collusion with a group of persons,” Yegor Martinovich and Andrei Dynko (the latter was not present at the hearing).
“Out of selfish motives, with the intent to cause property damage without signs of theft” from May 2017 to June 2021 “in violation of the declaration on the level of tariffs”, “energy supply rules” and “instructions for determining the group of consumers of electric and thermal energy” (and a long list of other instructions, rules, and regulations) Skurko paid for utilities as for an apartment, according to subsidized rates, rather than as for the office space of the editors, with “full compensation of costs”. The premises were not converted to non-residential.
Skurko, the prosecution alleges, “misled the authorized persons by deliberately failing to provide information about the purpose of the residential premises and the rate group of the consumer” – his apartment in Minsk. The damage was assessed to “Minskenergo” at 9,866.20 BYN, “Minskvodokanal” – at 250.70 BYN. This exceeded 348 base units – so the “crime” was “on a large scale” and is covered by part 2 of Article 216 of the Criminal Code: “Causing property damage through receiving property benefits without signs of theft, committed by a group of persons by the prior conspiracy on a large scale.”
At first, Skurko, Martsinovich and Dynko were detained under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (“Organization or participation in activities that seriously violate public order”).
Martsinovich, according to the charges, knew that it was illegal to use the residential premises as an office and that the rates were wrong, but he misled Minskenergo and the Parus City. He was charged with the same part 2 of article 216 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.
Andrey Skurko and Yahor Martsinovich said they understood the charges but decided to speak out about it at the end of the trial.
The representative of “Vodakanal”, who illegibly gave his name and position (probably, Yury Vasilieu), said that “Minskvodakanal” received information from Minsk Investigative Committee that the Nasha Niva staff used the residential premises for business activities. The underpayment was asked to be paid through the USK in Minsk. “Minskvodakanal” now has no property claims. The representative was unable to confirm the authenticity of the figures in the summons and answer questions about the discrepancies in the figures. Also, he did not know how often the meters in the office apartment were checked and whether they were checked at all (even if they claimed zero water consumption for the month).
The session lasted less than an hour, the Vodakanal representative was sent to clarify the answers to questions he did not know. The court warned Skurko and Martsinovich about the violation – talking to each other. The next hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Wednesday.
