Severinets, Statkevich trial date may be set on May 21 :: Charter'97 :: News

The court of Minsk’s Tsentralny district is expected on May 21 to set the date for opposition activists Pavel Severinets and Nikolai Statkevich to answer criminal charges in connection with last October mass protests in Minsk. If found guilty of staging the protests against election fraud, the two politicians may face up to three years in prison.

The cases were referred to the district court in late April.

Mr. Statkevich told BelaPAN that the district court had informed him by a letter that the date is likely to be set on May 21.

According to him, the judge said that she needed time because the cases are big and difficult.
However, the politician said that the six-volume case contains only reports from the drivers of trolley busses and buses on the violations of pedestrian crossing rules on Minsk’s thoroughfare during the protests.

“I believe that the authorities intentionally dragging the process out to keep us longer ‘on the hook’ and prevent me from taking part in the single opposition presidential candidate selection process,” he said. “Probably, now that pressure on the Belarusian authorities has increased, they are not sure what ruling should be made in our cases.”

The October 18 and 19 protests in Minsk ended in arrests and jail sentences. Both politicians served jail sentences last year for organizing the October 19 protest.