Mikola Statkevich Arrested For 10 Days :: Charter'97 :: News

Leader of the Belarusian Social Democrats (Narodnaya Hramada), coordinator of the European coalition Mikola Statkevich is sentenced to 10 days of arrest. The oppositionist is charged with violation of the Article 166 of the Administrative Code (violation of order during court session and actions demonstrating contempt to court). The ruling was passed by the judge of the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk, Alyaksei Bychko. The politician had refused to cooperate with the court. He was not answering the questions of the court and did not stand up when the judge addressed him. “I cannot call it a trial. The judge is considered to be simply a clerk who is completely dependent on Lukashenka and cannot be independent. The judgement to me is to be passed by Lukashenka’s administration. They have ordered to bring up the criminal action against me,” told Mikola Statkevich in his interview to the Charter’97 press center yesterday.

From the office of the judge Mikola Statkevich was taken to the special remand prison of Interior Affairs department of Minsk executive committee. The trial is to continue today at 2 p.m.

The trial in the criminal case brought up against Mikola Statkevich and one of the leaders of the “Young Front” Paval Sevyarynets started yesterday in the court of Tsentralny district of Minsk. The oppositional politicians are charged with organizing protest actions against rigged results of the parliamentary vote and referendum in 2004.

It is not the first criminal case for Mikola Statkevich and Paval Sevyarynets. In 1998 Paval Sevyarynets was accused of hooliganism for interrupting a concert on April 2, dedicated to the day of Belarus and Russia’s unification. The action was terminated in 1999 with the wording “because of the change of political situation”. In 2000 Mikola Statkevich was punished by two years of imprisonment with respite of punishment for an active participation in the first “Freedom March”. After reconsideration of the case he was sentenced to a fine. Having a criminal record, the leader of Social Democrats has lost possibility to take part in the election campaign as candidate.