Judge

She rejected the request of human rights defenders that the trial be held in Belarusian, and also denied the detainees the right to an interpreter.

Zapasnyk did not even consider the petition to remove the handcuffs from Bialiatski, Stefanovich and Labkovich during the trial.

is the state prosecutor in the case .

At the trial, the prosecutor stated that "the case materials indicate that Bialatski can hide from justice", so he saw no reason to change the measure of restraint of the human rights defender.

Svoboda looked at what is known about Marina Zapasnyk and Alexander Karal.

The trial in the case of Ales Bialiatski and other leaders of "Viasna".

Minsk, January 5, 2023

Political sentences since 2011

Marina Zapasnyk, 41 years old.

She comes from Minsk.

Currently, she is the deputy chairman of the court of the Lenin district of Minsk.

The first politically motivated sentences of Marina Zapasnik began to be handed down in 2011, when she sent participants of the "Revolution through Social Networks" actions to "days".

The judge was not even 30 at that time.

A year later, Zapasnyk arrested for 12 days the author of the sensational "Musarok" performance,

.

The guy went on the "Chernobyl road" in 2012 with a homemade "Musarok" poster with an arrow and approached people in civilian clothes who were filming the action.

After serving the term, Amelchenko was again brought to Zapasnyk, and she sentenced the young man to another 15 days.

Also in 2012, Zapasnik judged the artist Ales Pushkin.

During his performance, Pushkin came to the Supreme Court building with a portrait of anti-Soviet resistance figure Rostislav Lapitsky.

This was classified as unauthorized picketing.

The result for Pushkin was 12 days of administrative arrest.

There were many famous defendants in the biography of Marina Zapasnik -

None of them was acquitted by the judge.

Claimed rape at court - received 5 years in prison

From September 2020, Marina Zapasnyk again joins political processes.

The participants of the protests properly received arrests and fines from her.

The most famous for the judge at that time was the trial of the famous basketball player Alena Levchenko.

The athlete, who supported the movement for change, was detained at the airport when she was about to fly to Greece.

Marina Zapasnik sentenced the world-famous basketball player to 15 days of arrest.

As of November 2020, the deputy will also consider criminal cases.

Andrei Khronkov, Alyaksei Charvinsky and Siarhei Ratkevich became the first convicted political prisoners for it.

These are men who were detained on August 30 during a fight between demonstrators and the police.

The deputy sentenced the detainees to 4 and 5 years of imprisonment.

Marina Zapasnyk also considered the case of road blocking in Serabranka.

As a result, journalist Olga Klaskovskaya received 2 years in prison (she was released not so long ago).

At the trial, political prisoner Viktar Barushka stated that he was beaten by police officers and raped with a baton.

After the arrest, the man spent 12 days in intensive care.

It had no effect on the sentence - 5 years in prison.

The website "Zubar" reports that Marina Zapasnyk sentenced the participants of the protests to 770 days of administrative arrest, as well as 13,150 rubles in fines.

In July 2021, Zapasnik was included in the sanctions list of the European Union.

"Contemptuous attitude towards the Belarusian language"

Less is known about Alexander Karal, senior prosecutor of the General Prosecutor's Office.

The most high-profile case in which the King was a state prosecutor was the trial against the authors of the Russian chauvinist website Regnum.

Prosecutor Alexander Karol (left) at the trial of Bialiatski and other leaders of "Viasna"

"The texts show a contemptuous attitude towards Belarusian history and language.

The Belarusian language is called primitive, the use of which is possible only in everyday life," Aleksandar Karol said then at the court.

Yurii Pavlauts, Dmitriy Alimkina and Syarhei Shiptenko

were tried under Article 130 of the Criminal Code "Inciting international enmity".

All of them were sentenced to five years of imprisonment, suspended for three years.

That is what the prosecutor asked for.

Aleksandar Karol was also the accuser at the trial of the anarchist-political prisoner

The prosecutor asked for a six-year prison sentence for the boy for "malicious hooliganism."

We are talking about the incident with pepper spray in the driveway.

The court sentenced Polienko to three years of "home chemistry".

Later, the King even filed a protest with the Supreme Court because of the mild sentence, but after some time he gave it up.

In 2021, Alexander Karol received the "For Labor Merit" medal from the hands of Alexander Lukashenko.

And the website of the General Prosecutor's Office describes the King's participation in poetry readings at the office.

The prosecutor "brilliantly read" Eduard Asadov's work "On the Night Express".

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Persecution of Human Rights Center "Viasna"

As of October 7, 2022, 6 "Spring" activists remain behind bars.

On September 17, 2020, human rights defender "Viasna"

was detained .

She has been behind bars since then.

First, she was charged according to Part 3 of Art.

293 of the Criminal Code — "training or other preparation of persons to participate in mass riots, or financing of such activities."

Later, accusations of "inciting social enmity against the government" (Part 3, Article 130 of the Criminal Code) and "Participation in a criminal organization" (Part 2, Article 285 of the Criminal Code) were added.

• On September 6, 2022,

  Marfa Rabkova was

  sentenced to 15 years in prison under the general regime and a fine of 700 basic units (22,400 Belarusian rubles, or over $8,800);

Also remain prisoners:

• Andrei Chapyuk

  , a volunteer of "Viasny" from Minsk, was detained on October 2, 2020.

  He is accused of participating in mass riots and participating in a criminal organization.

  Chapyuk was sentenced to 6 years in prison under the enhanced regime and fined 500 base units (16,000 Belarusian rubles or more than $6,300);

• Leonid Sudalenko

  , director of the Gomel branch of "Vyasny", was detained on January 18, 2021.

  According to the article on mass riots, he was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

• Ales Bialiatski

  , the chairman of "Viasny", was detained on July 14, 2021. He is accused according to Part 2 of Art.

  243 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion).

  He faces up to 7 years in prison.

  On October 7, 2022, Ales Bialiatsky was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

• Valyantsin Stefanovich

  , deputy chairman of "Viasny" and vice-president of FIDH, was detained on July 14, 2021.

  He is accused according to Part 1 and 2 of Art.

  342 (organization and financing of group actions that grossly violate public order) and Part 2 of Art.

  243 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion).

  He faces up to 7 years in prison.

• Vladimir Labkovych

  , lawyer of "Viasny", was detained on July 14, 2021. He is accused according to Part 1 and 2 of Art.

  342 (organization and financing of group actions that grossly violate public order) and Part 2 of Art.

  243 of the Criminal Code (tax evasion).

  He faces up to 7 years in prison.

Released:

• Tattsiana Lasitsa

  , a volunteer of "Viasna" from Goml, was detained on January 21, 2021. According to the article about mass riots, she spent 1 year and 8 months behind bars.

  The human rights defender did not serve the entire term.