Minsker sentenced to 5 days in prison for candle in memory of murdered protester Raman Bandarenka
Natallya Kapytska, an employee of the Belarusian Academy of Sciences, was sentenced to 5 days in jail for lighting a candle and placing in on the windowsill on the anniversary of the death of Minsk protester Raman Bandarenka. The young man was beaten to death allegedly by pro-government forces or Lukashenka adherers on 11 November 2020.
The woman was detained on Monday evening and taken to the notorious detention centre on Akrestsin Street; a day later, she was tried via Skype.
“They took Natasha due to the candle in the window in memory of Raman Bandarenka. Now she is in the ‘famous’ Akrestsin. They came to her workplace: Natallya works at the Academy of Sciences, she is a senior researcher, musician, PhD in Art History. But they did not find her there. They summoned her to the police station, we came together, spent half an hour giving explanations – and she was arrested. Then [on November 12] they photographed all the windows where burning candles were seen,” Natallya’s husband, composer Viktar Kapytska, told the newspaper Nasha Niva.
But the official reason for Natallya’s being detained is still unclear.
belsat.eu
