BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

28/04/2008

Belarus Sentences More Activists

A district court in Minsk on April 25 fined Vyachaslau Hancharenka, the pastor of a Minsk-based Protestant community, 1.4 million rubles ($653) for collecting signatures in support of legislation liberalizing rules on religious organizations and mass events, Belapan reported. The court ruled that the organizers of the petition failed to apply to the Justice Ministry to receive approval of their draft legislation and permission to collect signatures. On April 22, the court fined opposition politician Pavel Sevyarynets on the same charges (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 23, 2008). The same day, a district court in Homel sentenced opposition youth activist Maryya Tulzhankova to seven days in jail for violating regulations on demonstrations. Tulzhankova on March 23 took part in an event marking the 90th anniversary of the Belarusian People's Republic. Earlier this month, the court sentenced six other people to jail terms or fines on the same charge (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 24, 2008). AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2008/04/3-cee/cee-280408.asp

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