Prosecutor demands 5 years in jail with reprieve for authors of Russian chauvinistic websites

The guilt of the accused Dzmitry Alimkin, Yury Paulavets and Syarhei Shyptsenka has been fully established, state prosecutor Alyaksandr Karol said.

They admitted that they had written articles that could incite national hatred, he said.

“It is difficult to underestimate the seriousness of the charges, which may result in the imprisonment from 5 to 12 years,” he stressed.

The prosecutor offered to free Shyptsenka and Paulavets from charges of illegal business activities.

Alyaksandr Karol demands the Belarusian-born authors of Regnum be sentenced to 5 years of imprisonment with a three-year retriieve (Art. 130-3 of the Belarusian Criminal Code).

Belarusians Yury Paulavets (pennames Mikalay Radau and Pavel Yuryntsau), Dzmitry Alimkin (penname Alla Bron) and Syarhei Shyptsenka were detained in December, 2016. The Belarusian Investigative Committee initiated criminal cases under article 130 (inciting hatred) against them. Paulavets criticized the Belarusian authorities for their contribution to the ‘nationalism’ while Alimkin called Belarus a ‘mad pseudostate’. As for Shyptsenka, the ideas of the ‘artificial’ nature of Belarusian statehood and the need for ‘reunification’ with Russia run through his publications like a golden thread. The texts concerned were published on Russian websites Regnum, Lenta.ru, EADaily.

belsat.eu, following TUT.by