Charges changed for Haidukou?

KGB chief Vakulchyk said Andrei Haidukou may be tried not for violating article 356 of the Criminal Code (treason).

Belarusian KGB chief Valery Vakulchyk is confident that the trial of Andrei Haidukou, who is accused of treason, “will be objective”'.

“I have no doubts that everything will be objective. No one is going to hide anything except for state secrets,” the KGB head said to journalists on Wednesday in Minsk, Interfax news agency reports.

Speaking about a possible punishment for Haidukou, Vakulchyk said: “The decision can be made only by the court.” He added that “It won't necessarily be article 356 [treason – Interfax].”

The case of Haidukou is heard by the Vitebsk regional court behind closed doors. Officially, Andrei Haidukou was detained as he “was installing a dead drop with information interesting for foreign secret services”. Human rights defenders and opposition activists find this accusation absurd.

The civil campaign European Belarus released a statement saying that the activist had been detained for distributing Charter'97 newspapers. Human rights activists link the prosecution of Andrei Haidukou to his pro-opposition views and explain it as an attempt to scare young activists.