Two Zhlobin residents sentenced to two years in jail over participating in protests
On October 28, Zhlobin district court passed a guilty verdict in the case of two local residents, Yauhen Kharyanau and Uladzislau Verasau.
They were charged with ‘group actions that grossly violate public order’ (Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code), the human rights centre Viasna reports. The young men were detained on 11 August 2021 and placed in a detention centre for three days. Then they were released under a written pledge not to leave the country.
Haryanau and Verasau took part in the above mentioned ‘group actions’ amid the post-election protest on 9 August 2020; according to the prosecution, they blocked the roads in town, which hindered the work of public transport and local institutions.
Judge Mikalai Syarheyevich sentenced Yauhen Haryanau and Uladzislau Verasau to two years of imprisonment in a minimum security penal colony each.
The convicts were taken into custody in the courtroom. Human rights activists are studying the circumstances of their case.
