BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

17/04/2008

Belarusian Court Tries 10 Youth Activists For Rally In January

A district court in Minsk on April 16 began the trial of 10 youth activists charged with causing public disorder during an unsanctioned demonstration of market vendors in Minsk on January 10 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," January 11, 2008), RFE/RL's Belarus Service and Belapan reported. The defendants are Andrey Kim, Mikhail Pashkevich, Ales Bondar, Uladzimir Syarheyeu, Artsyom Dubski, Ales Straltsou, Andrey Charnyshou, Anton Koypish, Mikhail Kryvau, and Tatsyana Tsishkevich. The trial of another four activists on the same charge was postponed to a later date after it turned out that they had not yet studied the case materials. All the 10 defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. Kim is additionally accused of hitting a police officer during another demonstration of market vendors staged on January 21 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," January 22, 2008). He has been held in custody since that demonstration. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/04/3-cee/cee-170408.asp

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