‘Long live Belarus!’ Politician, activist sentenced to 15 days in jail for chanting on May Day

Pavel Sevyarynets and his wife Volha before trial

Trial of Pavel Sevyarynets

Pavel Sevyarynets, a co-chairman of the Belarusian Christian Democracy, and Maksim Viniarski, a coordinator of the European Belarus civil campaign, have been sentenced to 15 days in arrest for their participation in the May Day demonstration in Minsk.

On Monday evening, Viniarski was detained near his home where the police were waiting for him after the rally. Sevyarynets was not available for some time, but later it became known that he was being kept in the temporary detention facility.

The politician and the activist were sentenced by judges Viktoryia Shabunya and Mikhail Khoma. Maksim Viniarski has gone on hunger strike; he will appeal against the judgement.

It is the policemen who gave evidence against Viniarski and Sevyarynets in the course of the trials.

Interestingly, they witnessed they had detained Sevyarynets in Kastrychnitskaya square in downtown Minsk soon after the rally. The politician states he was arrested at Pushkinskaya underground station (it is about 15 minutes by metro from the square). His words may be confirmed by Belsat TV journalists who showed him off to Pushkinskaya. But the judge believed the policemen in spite of the fact of Pavel Sevyarynets’ being out of reach after the protest.

Trial of Viniarski

According to the witnesses, Sevyarynets and Viniarski were chanting ‘Long live Belarus’ and ‘Basta’. At that, some of them admitted that there were no violations or offences at the rally.

In spite of intimidation and preventive arrests, protest rallies took place in Minsk and regions. The police attempted to bar activists and journalists from participating.

• May Day rallies taking place in Belarus. Belsat is covering the protests
• Minsk May Day protests in pictures
• Journalist Maryna Drabysheuskaya charged with working for Belsat TV

 

Belsat.eu