BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

04/05/2007

Belarusian Youth Activist Fined For Unauthorized March

A district court in Minsk on May 3 convicted Dzmitry Fedaruk, a leader of the unregistered opposition group Youth Front (Malady Front), for organizing an unsanctioned march during the sanctioned Chornobyl Way demonstration on April 26 (see "RFE/RL Newsline," April 27, 2007), Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. The court fined Fedaruk 930,000 Belarusian rubles ($435). "People who had gathered for the Chornobyl Way had to get back home somehow after the end of the demonstration," Fedaruk told RFE/RL. "Since the entire area was encircled by special forces and secret services, we decided to go in a column...to avoid being caught by them. Now I've been accused of organizing an unauthorized march." Fedaruk and four other Youth Front activists are facing criminal prosecution on separate charges of acting on behalf of an unregistered organization under an article of the Criminal Code that carries a prison sentence of up to two years. JM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/05/3-cee/cee-040507.asp