Prosecutor demands prison sentence for former presidential hopeful Dźmitryjeŭ

April 5, BPN. A Belarusian prosecutor has called for a two-year prison sentence for former presidential hopeful Andrej Dźmitryjeŭ, the state media reports.

A sentence is expected to be handed down on April 6.

The Maskoŭski District Court of Minsk started hearing the case against Dźmitryjeŭ on April 5. Judge Kaciaryna Muraška presides over the proceedings.

Police arrested Dźmitryjeŭ on January 11. A few days later, the Investigative Committee accused him of participating in the 2020 protests in Minsk.

The politician allegedly crossed Belarus’ border a total of 599 times, 33 times after 2020. Dźmitryjeŭ’s contacts with Westerners and the USA “may indicate coordination of his ‘political’ activities from abroad,” the investigators said, noting that he “was in contact with the US Department of State and its former head Hillary Clinton.”

Dźmitryjeŭ, 41, run for president in 2020. He is a member of Our Party’s organizing committee and co-chairman of the outlawed Tell the Truth organization.

Human rights groups consider him a political prisoner.