December 12, BPN. The Minsk City Court has started hearing a case against alleged administrators of Chernaya Kniga Belarusi (Eng.: Black Book of Belarus), an online project exposing the identities of security officers who mistreated and brutalized peaceful protesters.
Dźmitryj Navoša, Janina Sazanovič, Valeryja Zaniamonskaja, Daniił Bahdanovič, and Volha Vysockaja are tried in absentia in so-called special proceedings targeting activists who live abroad and evade contact with investigators.
The authorities’ ultimate goal may be seizing property and stripping dissidents of their Belarusian citizenship. Amendments allowing for investigations and trials in absentia came into effect on July 27.
Authorities charged all five defendants with inciting hatred and illegal handling of personal data. The Committee for State Security (KGB) added them to its terrorist register.
Prosecutors say they shared personal data of police and officials in the public domain. The Prosecutor General’s Office alleged that some officers had their property destroyed or damaged, while others received threats of violence, said.
Defense attorneys and the state prosecutor have appeared in court, pro-government sources reported. The defendants have not showed up “despite the fact that they had been properly notified,” it said.
Authorization
Exit profile
