A Belsat journalist was present at the preliminary hearing of the case of Yury Palityka, whom Ukraine accused of spying.
The most unexpected thing was the defendant’s demand to provide an interpreter into the Belarusian language. Earlier, Yury Palityka answered journalists’ questions in Russian, Katsyaryna Andreyeva says.
“To be more exact, it is his lawyers who insisted on providing an interpreter. Syarhei Bobau, Senior Counselor of the Embassy of Belarus to Ukraine, was present. <…> He made it clear that the embassy supported the Belarusian citizen. According to him, what happened to Yury Palityka is a provocation on the part of some of his acquaintances or friends; the diplomat believes that he was ‘framed’,” the journalist reports.
She tried to ask Yury who had left him high and dry.
“He was not ready to name that person. But he said it was a citizen of Ukraine, from Chernihiv. Experts believe that the trial is a ‘mirror’, as Minsk started the hearing of the case of Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Sharoiko. However, his trial is being held in camera. Here in Chernihiv, some people are of the opinion that this proceeding [of Palityka] may be closed for the public ifeither of the two sides demands,” Andreyeva added.
Belsat.eu
