Minsk: Police detain activist Volha Paulava who was earlier sentenced to restriction of liberty for picketing
On Monday, Volha Paulava, an activist of A Country for Life movement, has been detained in Minsk.The woman did not return home after today“s reporting to the police. Volha was allegedly held due to committing an administrative offense: according to the authorities’ version, she ‘picketed in the building of the police department’. The woman’s lawyer managed to contact her via Skype. He confirms that Volha is now in the police station.
In February, she was sentenced to three years of restriction of liberty without being sent to an open-type correctional facility.
In the wake of the 2020 presidential election Volha Paulava was detained four times – the last time on November 15, the day of the action in memory of the murdered protester Raman Bandarenka. Since then she has been kept in custody. After the march on November 1 a criminal case under part 1 of article 342 of the Criminal Code (‘organisation and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order or active participation in them’) was brought against the woman.
When she was tried in Leninski district court of Minsk, public prosecutor Alyaksandr Ramanovich demanded three years of imprisonment without sending her to an open-type institution. The judge upheld his demand.
The activist is a mother of a six-year-old child.
