Political prisoner with tattoo 'Lukashenka, go away!' sentenced to 2 years in jail (upd)
(UPD) Yury Rubtsou is sentenced to two years of imprisonment in a minimum-security penal colony. The political prisoner is going to appeal against the judgment.
A criminal case under Article 415 of the Criminal Code (evasion from serving the sentence of imprisonment) was brought up against Mr. Rubtsou. The article envisages up to three years of imprisonment. Judge Mikalai Repikha is considering the case.
The political prisoner appeared in court without a T-shirt, but with tattoo ‘Lukashenka, go away!’ on his chest. The judge made a remark that no one is allowed to show up bare0chested in a court. Rubtsov answered that once policemen stripped him to the waist in court and no one was paying attention then. The judge also prohibited taking photos and filming.
Rubtsov’s family, journalists and activists came from Minsk to be present at the hearing. Some of them are wearing T-shirts ‘Lukashenka, go away!’
In April 2014 Savetski district court in Minsk heard an administrative case against Yury Rubtsou detained at the Charnobyl Path rally that was sanctioned by the city authorities. Mr Rubtsou often wore a T-shirt bearing inscriptions ‘Lukashenka, go away!’ and ‘Fourfold President – not President but self-appointed tsar!’, which could not but irritate the authorities. After the rally policemen stripped him of his T-shirt and take Mr Rubtsou to court half-naked. Moreover, as he had no glasses he was unable to study the materials of his case. When he called this trial a ‘mockery’, judge Kiryl Palulekh interpreted the words as an insult.
On October, 6 Yury Rubtsou was sentenced to 2.5 years of personal restraint for allegedly insulting a judge. However, the sentence was reduced to 1.5 years due to the amnesty. December 22, 2014 the activist started serving his term in an open-type correctional facility.
While serving his sentence in the village of Kuplin (Pruzhany district), the activist refused to work due to low wages. Rubtsov asked to be provided with a job with an average pay in the country ($ 600), which gave ground for another criminal case.
Yury Rubtsov was kept in the detention centre of the town of Baranavichy. He said that the both criminal cases were fabricated and went on hunger strike in protest . In early May, the activist announced his intention to stop drinking water if his case was tried behind closed doors.
