Judge demands to open criminal case against coordinator of European Belarus campaign

EU blacklisted judge Dzmitry Pauliuchenka accuses Maksim Viniarski of “insulting a representative of the authorities”.

Maksim Viniarski, a coordinator of the civil campaign European Belarus, was summoned to the Savetski district police department. He visited the police department with a lawyer. The activist told charter97.org about the results of the visit.

“I learnt from my relatives that officers of the Savetski district police department wanted to talk to me. Policemen tried to break into my mother's home. She then received a telephone call. She was told the police wanted to see me in connection with 'insulting a representative of the authorities'. I consulted with human rights activists and visited the police department with a lawyer. Senior district police officer Vitaly Paulouski talked to me. He said the chief of the Savetski district police department received a complaint on November 13 saying that I had insulted an official. The complaint was signed by Dzmitry Pauliuchenka, a judge of Minsk's Savetski district court. We read this complaint. It says that “on November 4, from 15:40 till 16:00, Viniarski insulted a representative of the authorities by calling him a “sycophant of Lukashenka's court'. Judge Dzmitry Paulichenka wants to bring me to responsibility under article 391 of the Criminal Code,” Maskim Viniarski said.

The coordinator of the civil campaign European Belarus says he was in the Savetski district court at the trial over Yury Rubtsou, who had been detained after a march to Kurapaty, at the time pointed in the complaint.

Article 391 of the Criminal Code “insulting a judge or people's assessor” carries a punishment of a fine, or up to two years of community service, or from three to six months of arrest, or imprisoning for up to three years.

Judge Dzmitry Pauliuchenka is known for delivering guilty verdicts to opposition activists. He was banned from entering the EU.