Svyataslau Baranovich sentenced for defending anarchists from policemen in civilian clothes
A Minsk court has found Svyataslau Baranovich guilty of “violence against an employee of internal affairs agency” and sentenced him to three years in a general regime colony.
Last year, on March 15, Svyataslau Baranovich defended the representatives of the anarchist movement from the plainclothes people who attacked the young men in the trolleybus at the Bangalore Square after the ‘non-parasites’ rally. According to Baranovich, he several times struck the unknown people dressed in black.
The prosecution claims that Baranovich knocked down a riot policeman, Artsyom Paulau with several blows. Although the incident took place in March, Baranovich was detained only in October. Initially, he was prosecuted for “hooliganism,” but later his case was re-qualified for another article – “violence against an employee of internal affairs agency.”
Paval Sevyarynets said that the society should show solidarity with Baranovich. He called the behavior of policemen in civilian clothes on March 15, 2017 the usual “banditry.”
Human rights activist Andrei Bandarenka called the court’s decision politically motivated. Mikola Statkevich called the verdict shameful and called for participation in the protest on March 25.
