Dzyatlava: Man detained in forest gets 30-day jail term for ‘unauthorised picketing’
On Tuesday, Navahradak resident Viktar Matskevich stood trial in the court of the town of Dzyatlava (Hrodna region).
On June 19, the man was detained in the forest not far from the village of Barouniki (Dzyatlava district), where he was spending his day off. Although his only ‘fault’ was placing a white-red-white flag on his camping tent, the authorities charged Matskevich with ‘unauthorised picketing’ under Article 24.23 of the Code of Administrative Offences, human rights centre Viasna reports.
The defendant was sentenced to 30 days in jail.
Notably, Matskevich’s friend Iryna Trafimchyk, who came to support him, was detained in the courtroom. During the court recess, she had a word with senior police officer Uladzimir Svyatokha who had played an active part in the detention of Matskevich, eyewitnesses say.
According to the information provided by RFE/RL, Iryna Trafimchyk ‘showed her indignation at the fact of her friend’s being tried, but she did not express insults or slogans’. An administrative case was initiated against the woman, but it is still not known what she is accused of.
Iryna has two minor children.
In 1991, the white-red-white flag and the emblem Pahonya (Pursuit) were adopted as national symbols of the country. However, they were official until the 1995 referendum, when on the tip from Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who is an ardent adherer of the USSR, they were replaced by the Soviet ones. For years, pro-Lukashenka officials have been linking the white-red-white colours to the opposition. Last December, the authorities warned that those Belarusian citizens who would hang out ‘unregistered symbols’ even on their windows or balconies might be penalised under administrative law.
