Criminal case opened against people who chanted ‘Shame’ during sentencing Vitold Ashurak

Hrodna region prosecutor’s office has initiated a criminal case under Part 2 of Art. 339 of the Criminal Code (‘hooliganism committed by a group of persons’), according to Telegram channel Detentions and Trials in Lida.

The suspects are all those who were chanting ‘Shame!’ and ‘We believe, we can, we will win!’ during the announcement of the verdict passed on political prisoner Vitold Ashurak, as he people who came to Lida district court to show support for the defendant were outraged at the severity of the sentence. Later, some of the attenders were accused of ‘illegal picketing’ (at that time it was Article 23.34 of the Code of Administrative Offences) and punished.

However, the regional prosecutor’s office has recently decided to open a criminal case over the situation. It is being carried out by two investigators from Hrodna who have started to question all the people who were present in the courtroom on that day, order to search their homes, push them into signing written pledges not to leave the country and not to disclose any details of interrogations. If a person is found guilty under Part 2 of Art. 339, they might be sentenced to up to six years in prison.

Vitold Ashurak, a 50-year-old activist from Byarozauka, was arrested in September 2020. Then he was charged with ‘participation in the group actions that grossly violate public order’ (i.e. for taking part in the 2020 post-election protests) and ‘violence against a police officer’ and tried. In January 2021, judge Maksim Filatau delivered a guilty verdict in his case; Vitold Ashurak was sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment and transferred to Shklou penal colony Nr 17.

In one of his letters from prison, Vitold wrote: “Can strangers be friends? They can if they are Belarusians.”

On May 21, the authorities informed the relatives of his death. Notably, the body was handed over to the family only on May 25. At first, the cause of death was ‘cardiac arrest’, but his wife says that Vitold’s heart was healthy. The Investigative Committee published a video, which allegedly shows Vitold (no face in the video) falling and hitting his head in the cell, then they bandage his head and leave him alone – he falls again and dies.

belsat.eu