Supreme Court of Belarus to consider complaints by five Ukrainians serving jail sentences in Minsk :: Charter'97 :: News

The Supreme Court of Belarus has accepted complaints by five Ukrainian citizens who are serving jail sentences in a Minsk detention center, Leonid Yasinsky, spokesman for the Ukrainian embassy in Belarus, told BelaPAN.

"The Supreme Court may consider complaints within 10 days. It is likely that all the jailed Ukrainian citizens will have been released by the moment the Court hands down its judgment, but we should go through with it, as this is a matter of principle," Mr. Yasinsky said.

The five young Ukrainian men were arrested in Minsk on April 26 during the Belarusian police`s crackdown on an attempt by a few hundred anti-Lukashenko protesters to stage a march to mark the 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

The following day, the Ukrainians, members of the National Alliance youth movement, were sentenced to nine to 15 days in jail. In particular, National Alliance leader Ihor Huz, a member of the Lutsk City Council, was sentenced to 10 days, Andrei Bokach to 15 days, Oleksandr Hrymalyuk and Oleksandr Mishlai to 10 days each, and Oleksey Panasyuk to nine days.

Along with the Ukrainians, the police seized some 10 Belarusians and 14 Russian citizens. The Russians were granted an early release by the Minsk City Court on Saturday. They left for Moscow on the same day and the jailed Ukrainians continued to be held in a detention center in Minsk despite repeated appeals by Ukrainian officials to release them.

On Tuesday, the Minsk City Court upheld the sentences against the Ukrainians, who are to be released between May 5 and 11.

On May 4, the National Alliance organization put up dummy anti-tank hedgehogs in front of the Belarusian embassy in Kyiv and twisted barbed wire around them. Once an hour, young people announced how much time was left until the release of their comrades by banging drums, sounding sirens and making other noises, National Alliance deputy head Alina Shpak told BelaPAN. According to her, a source with the Ukrainian foreign ministry informed her that the Belarusian embassy had urged the ministry to end the protest. "They apparently believe that if the ministry concurs with us, then the protest is being staged by the Ukrainian authorities` consent," Ms. Shpak said.