MINSK – The Zavodskoi District Court in Minsk district court has sentenced a citizen of Ukraine to three years in a general-security penal colony for “active participation in group actions massively violating the public order and damaging property in public places.”
“The prosecutors of the Zavodskoi district of Minsk supported in court the state prosecutors in the criminal case against Ukrainian citizen F., 32 […] Taking into account the evidence provided by the state prosecutors, the court of the Zavodskoi district of Minsk convicted him of the charges. On the basis of Part 1 of Article 342, Part 4 of Article 16, and Article 341 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, F. has been sentenced to three years in a general-security penal colony,” the Prosecutor General’s Office said in a statement published on its website on Oct. 4.
The convict “violated public calm and blocked roads to transport, obstructing the normal operation of enterprises and organizations during unauthorized mass events in central Minsk in August-September 2020,” the statement said.
“Besides, in order to publicly express his sociopolitical views and protest using illegal means, the convict created and moderated a Telegram chat where the painting of protest symbols on various elements of the city’s environment was planned and discussed,” it said.
“F., acting as an organizer, found and made criminal instruments, including aerosol paint in containers, brushes, gloves, dissolvent, and stencils,” it said. “He distributed the roles of the perpetrators and was personally involved in the painting of protest words and images on the fronts of at least 27 buildings. As a result of such actions, damage of over 2,500 Belarusian rubles [some $995] was inflicted,” it said.
The sentence has not taken legal effect yet. An appeal can be filed.
