Artsyom Sakau, a cameraman of the “Country for Life” who is also a defendant in the Tsikhanouski case, is now in jail in Minsk. He was recently placed in the punitive cell for five days, as well as given a new administrative arrest, spring96.org reports.
As the relatives of political prisoner Sakau informed the human rights activists, the reason of his placement in the cell was a web in the corner of the cell. Earlier, blogger Syarhei Tsikhanouski was left in a punitive cell for seven more days for the same violation.
Besides, it was recently reported that on June 29 the Sakau was recently tried under Article 23.34 of the Administrative Code (participation in an unauthorized mass event). He was tried for allegedly participating in a rally in Mazyr on May 3 — that day Syarhei Tsikhanouski was reporting on the local boarding house, which the authorities wanted to close. Although in reality at that moment Sakau was elsewhere in the city, the judge still sentenced him to seven days of administrative arrest.
Artyom’s relatives learned about this court hearing after it happened, therefore none of them could get there. The political prisoner, with the help of a lawyer, will appeal against this decision. Also, according to Sakau’s mother, a protocol was drawn up for his participation in an unsanctioned event in Zhlobin on April 8, when Tsikhanouski interviewed local residents.
Artsyom Sakau and 16 other people are defendants in the Tsikhanouski case — they are charged under Article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (organization or active participation in group actions, flagrantly violating public order).
