Dzyanis Urad, a captain of the General Staff of Belarus, who revealed the authorities’ plans to involve the army in quelling would-be protests on Belarus’ unofficial Freedom Day, has been sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment in a medium security penal colony, the press service of the Prosecutor General’s Office reports.
The Supreme Court heard the case behind the closed doors; the verdict was handed down by judge Alyaksandr Lupinovich.
In March, 29-year-old signal officer Urad took a picture of a classified letter and sent it to anti-Lukashenka Telegram channels. In the letter, Belarusian Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakou asked Defence Minister Viktar Khrenin to place some military forces at their disposal if ‘mass riots’ continued. After the photo appeared on the Internet, the man was arrested and charged with high treason.
The Belarusian human rights community recognised Dzyanis Urad as a political prisoner. According to them, the prosecution of the officer violates Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
