Some Witnesses in Partnerstva Case Taken to Court Forcibly :: Charter'97 :: News

The trial over activists of Partnerstva civil initiative of elections observation continues today. Evidence of witnesses for the defense and those for the prosecution who had not been giving evidence earlier has been heard. As the BelaPAN informs, some prosecution witnesses were taken to the court room forcibly.

As told by family members of the defendants, evidence of witnesses confirms the position of the defence. Most of the witnesses stated that all attempts of the Partnerstva initiative to be registered were unsuccessful, and during the last attempt, its participants were detained by police right at the founding congress. After that Mikalay Astrejka and Enira Branitskaya were sentenced to 15 days of arrest. In this connection the organization had not been registered, that is why it hadn’t been engaged in any activities.

As relatives said, the judge decided not to summon again the witnesses who failed to attend the court, and to read their written evidence from the files of the case. According to relatives, it would create additional difficulty for the defence, as it would be better for the lawyers to see witnesses at the trial, to ask questions to them, and discuss controversial points, which is impossible when evidence is read out.