BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

14/07/2006

Belarus former presidential candidate gets 5.5 years in jail

Belarusian former presidential candidate was sentenced to jail. APA's Eastern Europe bureau reports that Aleksandr Lukashenko's rival, Belarusian Social-Democrat Party leader Aleksandr Kozulin has been convicted and sentenced by the Minsk Moskovsky Court to five years and six months in a low-security prison camp.

Kozulin was convicted on charges of hooliganism, violating public order. But his supporters think the opposition leader was sentenced for his obviously standing against the acting President. During the election campaign, Kozulin took more aggressive stance against Lukashenko by addressing him in impolite way, making scandalous statements on the President's personal life and demanding the authorities to pay back the people's money.

International organizations are expected to release special statements with regard to the court verdict./APA/

Source:

http://en.apa.az/news.php?id=12098