Verdict to Alyaksandr Atroshchankau upheld

Minsk city court has dismissed cassation appeals of Belarusian political prisoners Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, Dzmitry Novik and Alyaksandr Mauchanau.

None of the three was present in the court room at the hearing of the cassation appeal.

As it had been informed, the spokesperson of the presidential candidate in Belarus Andrei Sannikov, Alyaksandr Atroshchankau, as a result of the legal lynching on March 2, 2011, was found guilty of participation in the so-called “mass riots” and sentenced to 4 years’ imprisonment in a medium security penal colony. In fact, Alyaksandr was accused for smiling during the events of December 19, when he was at the scene of the events as a journalist. No other evidence of Atroshchankau’s participation in “mass riots” had been offered.

Dzmitry Novik was sentenced to 3.5 years, Alyaksandr Mauchanau – to 3 years’ imprisonment in a medium security penal colony.