Ukrainian will be tried in Belarus: participated in last year’s protests

Photo from website TUT.BY

A 32-year-old citizen of Ukraine will be tried in Minsk for participating in protest actions and “depicting a protest character” on buildings.

This was reported by UA with reference to the Investigative Committee of Belarus, Zerkalo (website created by TUT.BY journalists – editor’s note).

“The investigation of a criminal case against a 32-year-old citizen of Ukraine, an active participant in group actions that grossly violate public order, which took place in the capital last year, has been completed. The materials have been handed over to the prosecutor to be sent to court” – the Investigative Committee of Belarus said in a statement.

According to the investigation, in the afternoon of August 30, 2020, the 32-year-old accused took “an active part” in an unauthorized rally in the center of Minsk, during which he “violated public order and blocked traffic”. In addition, he was at a protest on September 13, 2020.

From August to September last year, the accused created a chat in the Telegram messenger with the aim of “publicly expressing his socio-political views and protest in illegal ways, as well as conducting radical activities”.

Because of this chat, he allegedly looked for like-minded people, and also organized the application with the help of spray paint and stencils on the facades of “at least 27 buildings with inscriptions and images of a protest character”.

According to the investigation, this caused damage to the state-owned enterprise for a total amount of more than BYN (Belarusian ruble) 2,000.

It is also noted that the citizen of Ukraine “was a subscriber of a number of destructive Telegram channels”. The man is charged under 2 articles – active participation in protest actions (part 1 of article 342) and organization, leadership and direct participation in the desecration of buildings and damage to property (part 4 of article 16, article 341) of the Criminal Code of Belarus. A preventive measure was applied to him in the form of detention.

According to Zerkalo, the accused is a native of Donetsk, Mykhaylo Ferents, who has been living in Belarus since 2012.

He was detained on September 16 last year, at first a decision was made to expel him from Belarus, but then this decision was suspended. The press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs only seven months later, on April 20, announced the arrest of Ferents and published a video with his “remorse”.

At the trial, Ferents refused to testify, because they read out the interrogation protocols, where it was written that the young man decided to create a chat and put an image of a cockroach, a chase and the inscriptions “Press the regime on the way”, etc. However, Ferents noted at the trial that he had not read what was written in the interrogation records. They gave him to sign, promising that after that he would be sent home.

Read also: Belarusian opposition activists Kolesnikova and Znak were sentenced to 11 and 10 years in prison.