Khalip, Sievieryniets and Martselev condemned



Irina Khalip, the authorized delegate and wife of the Belarusian ex-presidential candidate Andrey Sannikov, member of Belarusian Association of Journalists was charged with a two-year sentence with a two-year suspended execution of sentence by the judge of Minsk Zavodskoy district court Zhanna Brysina on May 16. The leader of Nikolay Statkievich’s electoral headquarters Sergey Martselev was charged with a two-year suspended sentence. Pavel Sievieryniets who was also the leader of one more ex-presidential candidate Vitaly Rymashevsky’s electoral headquarters was charged with three years of compulsory labor.

Only the third part of those who came to hear the pronouncement of sentence of the three well-known people was admitted to the courtroom. The accused were charged with organization and participation in actions which do violence to public peace (p.1 of article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus), as if those actions happened in Minsk on December 19, 2010 after presidential election campaign. Relatives of the accused, representatives of diplomatic corps, journalists and human right activists managed to get into the courtroom. Judge Brysina totally agreed with the demands of the public prosecutor and not one jot did she deviated from the Procecutor’s demands of the sentence. People were consoled only by the fact that all the three were released right from the court room. Irina Khalip, Pavel Sievieryniets and Sergey Martselev were greeted by dozens of people presented in the court room. They cheered them up with cries of admirations and “Long live Belarus!” calls. Militia reacted modestly. The mothers of the convicted couldn’t hide their tears. Irina Khalip thanked all her journalist colleagues for the support and solidarity, but first, she thanked her mother-in-law - Andrey Sannikov’s mother and her own parents, because, quoting journalists, they suffered inhuman probations lately. Irina Khalip called her sentence a hostage taking because in two years term she will be judged again and her destiny will be shaped again. At any moment, in case of any little violation Irina would again get into custody. The same can be said about Sergey Martselev. Everybody wondered where this time Pavel Sievieryniets will be sent for compulsory labor. This will be his second compulsory labor sentence. All the convicted consider their sentences lawless and are going to file cassation complains. Pavel Sievieryniets hugged his relatives and friends and headed to the so-called House of Justice where the court session over Vladimir Niekliayev, Segrey Vozniak, Aleksandr Feduta, Andrey Dmitriyev, Vitaly Rymashevsky and Anastassiya Polozhanko was taking place at that time.

Gennady LOGINOV