Valiantsin Stefanovich: Alesin needs lawyer urgently

Charges against military expert Aliaksandr Alesin are obviously a foul-up.

It was said by human rights defender Valiantsin Stefanovich, whose statement was published on Facebook.

“The charges are an obvious foul-up. Article 356 'Treason against the state' consists of two parts. Charges over one of the parts are possible. There cannot be charges with violating article 356 and part 1 of article 356. If they mean article 356.1, it rules out the possibility of charging Alesin with violating article 356, because it punishes for establishing cooperation with foreign intelligence or security agencies without signs of treason. These are new components of the crime introduced in 2001. 'Spy' Andrei Haidukou was convicted under this article. Article 356.1 carries a punishment of 6 to 24 months of imprisonment. If Alesin is brought this charge, he cannot be held in custody before trial in accordance with the Criminal Procedure Code, because the punishment is less than 3 years in prison. He should be released on his own recognisance.

He needs a lawyer urgently,” Valiantsin Stefanovich said.

Aliaksandr Alesin, a military expert and observer for Belorusy i Rynok newspaper, was detained by the secret services on November 25. As charter97.org learnt from a source, Aliaksandr Alesin was arrested on suspicions of spying when he was having lunch with an unknown man at a Minsk cafe. The journalist's children learnt from the KGB yesterday that a criminal case under article 356 'Treason against the state' and part 1 of article 356 'Divulging state secrets to a foreign state, foreign organisation or a representative, or espionage' was opened against him. The article carries a punishment of from 7 to 15 years in prison. Besides Alesin, a foreign diplomat was charged. Alesin's relatives do not know who he is. He is not in custody as he has diplomatic immunity.

Aliaksandr Alesin is a journalist and observer for for Belorusy i Rynok newspaper. He specialises in military analytics. He won the Grand Prix in the 2008 Golden Pen contest among journalists covering automobile topics in business and republican mass media.