Prosecutor demands 19 years in prison for former presidential hopeful Capkała

March 29, BPN. The state prosecutor has demanded that former presidential hopeful Valer Capkała be sentenced to 19 years in prison, the Viasna Human Rights Center reports.

The trial began in the Minsk Regional Court on March 1, without the defendant being present. Capkała and his children had fled Belarus.

“Half of the charges against him are ‘political,'” Viasna said. But the prosecutors underscore his alleged economic crimes, it added, quoting the state media. For instance, the Belarusian Hi-Tech Park reportedly claimed that Capkała had abused his power while running it.

Capkała commented on the opening of the trial by saying that Alaksandr Łukašenka’s regime will be accountable to the European Court of Human Rights.