Vitebsk Oppositionist Sentenced to 10 Days Arrest :: Charter'97 :: News

Vitebsk UCP member was sentenced to 10 days of arrest for staging an unsanctioned picket. Fedor Bakunov’s arrest was carried out right in the courtroom, whereas the family of the detainee learned about that not until last night.

Fedor Bakunov himself learnt about the verdict, passed by the judge Svetlana Tufan, quite accidentally. On January 8 he visited the Zheleznodorozhny district court of Vitebsk in order to find out the fate of the criminal lawsuit, instituted against him for his involvement in an unsanctioned picket on October 30, dedicated to the Day of the political repressions’ victims.
Under the Belarusian legislation, the administrative responsibility term expires within two months, that is on December 30 last year, when judge Svetlana Tufan failed to pass the final verdict, though Bakunov was personally present at the last court’s session.
Therefore, it is only the day before yesterday that he learned about ten days of arrest, ruled against him and also the fact that the verdict was dated December 30 – the last legitimate day for passing the sentence.