BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS
DATE:
20/02/2008
Belarusian Authorities Sentence More Small-Business Activists
Two Belarusian courts on February 19 sentenced small-business activists Mikalay Charnavus and Ihar Kryval for taking part in demonstrations in defense of the rights of entrepreneurs, Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. Charnavus was fined 1,050,000 rubles ($489) for organizing an unsanctioned rally in Baranavichy, Brest Oblast, on February 11. Kryval was sentenced to 15 days in jail for his activities in Uzda, Minsk Oblast, where he distributed "leaflets of an antigovernment nature" that called on people to take part in a February 18 protest in Minsk. Police arrested Kryval on February 16 and kept him in a pretrial detention center, thus preventing him from traveling to Minsk to take part in the demonstration. Meanwhile, the prosecutor's office in Barysau, Minsk Oblast, has issued a warning to local small-business activist Ihar Lednik for announcing the unsanctioned February 18 demonstration in a message he posted on the Internet. AM
Source:
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/02/3-cee/cee-200208.asp
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