Prosecutor requests long prison terms for coup d’état case defendants

August 30, BPN. Prosecutor Michaił Kavaloŭ has demanded 12 years in prison for defendants in a high-profile coup d’état case, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

Belarusian-born US lawyer Juryj Ziankovič, literature critic and political scientist Alaksandr Fiaduta and Belarusian Popular Front (BPF) chairman Ryhor Kastusioŭ are charged with conspiracy to seize state power in an unconstitutional way. The prosecutor also asked for three-year terms for Volha Hałubovič, an accountant, and Dzianis Kraŭčuk, a truck driver.

Ziankovič signed a pre-trial agreement with investigators, pleaded guilty and helped investigators gather evidence against other defendants.

Fiaduta pleaded guilty but denied “base motives.” Kastusioŭ, who is suffering from cancer, pleaded not guilty. He said he had participated in conspirators’ Zoom calls as a listener.

Hałubovič and Kraŭčuk, charged with gross violations of public order, pleaded guilty.

The other suspects in the case were psychiatrist Dźmitryj Ščyhielski, former police official Ihar Makar, as well as Alaksandr Pierapiečka, Pavieł Kułažanka and Vital Makaranka.

The Minsk Regional Court has been hearing the case since July 29.