BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

13/11/2007

Belarusian Youth Activist Fined For Refusing To Testify

The district court in Shklou on November 9 fined Zmitser Dashkevich $870 for refusing to testify against his friend, Belapan and RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported. Dashkevich, who is currently serving an 18-month term for heading an unregistered organization, the Youth Front, has refused to give testimony in a similar case against another Youth Front activist, Ivan Shyla. Dashkevich claimed that the law gives him the right not to testify against himself or those close to him. The trial was held behind closed doors in the correctional facility where Dashkevich is incarcerated. Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the European Union's commissioner for external relations and neighborhood policy, has condemned the fine imposed on Dashkevich, adding that it "utterly contradicts the principles and values laid down in the EU's message to Belarus which I released a year ago." AM

Source:

http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2007/11/3-cee/cee-131107.asp

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