Vitsebsk: Man gets 1.5 years of restriction of liberty for ‘insulting’ OMON commander on web
On June 22, Pershamayski district court of Vitsebsk ended hearing the case of 36-year-old local resident Vadzim Yermalovich.
He was charged and found guilty of publicly insulting Dzmitry Balaba, the commander of Minsk OMON riot police.
Judge Natallya Karablina took heed of public prosecutor Filimonau’s demand and sentenced the defendant to 1.5 years of restriction of liberty in an open-type correctional facility.
In court, Vadzim Yermalovich pleaded guilty, but he refused to testify or have the the last word. He just said that he was and remains a ‘law-abiding citizen.’ Yermalovich’s parents have already paid off 1,000 Belarusian rubles of ‘emotional distress’ damages allegedly inflicted by their son on Balaba. In fact, the Vitsebsk resident was tried for leaving comments under the Telegram post about Dzmitry Balaba’s contracting COVID-19 and being in hospital.
Vadzim Yermalovich was taken into custody on March 20, but three days later, he was released on his own recognisance. His house was searched. On April 14, Yermalovich was detained in Shchuchyn district. Not far from the state border with Lithuania. After a criminal case against the man was filed, he was placed in pre-trial detention centre Nr 2 in Vitsebsk, where he was listed as ‘prone to extremism’.
belsat.eu
