Court to hear prosecutor’s request for harsher sentences for Viasna leaders on April 21

March 31, BPN. The Minsk City Court will hear the prosecutor’s appeal against the ruling against the Viasna Human Rights Center leaders at 10 am on April 21, the court’s electronic schedule says.

Judge Śviatłana Bandarenka will preside over the proceedings.

On March 29, Alaksandr Karol, the prosecutor, appealed the ruling of the Leninski District Court of Minsk that sentenced the Viasna leaders to lengthy prison terms of seven to 10 years.

At the trial, the prosecutor requested a 12-year prison term for Aleś Bialacki, the founder of Viasna who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, and from 11 to 10 years in prison for his associates.

On March 3, Judge Maryna Zapaśnik sentenced Bialacki to 10 years in prison; his deputy Valancin Stefanovič, to nine years; Uładzimir Łabkovič, coordinator of the Human Rights Defenders for Free Elections campaign, to seven years. Źmicier Sałaŭjoŭ, an exiled human rights defender, was given eight years in absentia.

The judge also sentenced the human rights defenders to lower fines than requested by the prosecutor.

Bialacki and his associates were tried for allegedly financing protests in Belarus and smuggling cash for their human rights work.

The EU, USA and UN Human Rights Office condemned the trial as unfair.