Minsk City Court judge Sergei Khripach sentenced the political prisoners to deprivation of freedom, including “Viasna” human rights activists Marfa Rabkova and Andrei Chepyuk. Political prisoners were tried under 10 criminal articles. The trial lasted for four and a half months. Three of the accused, including Marfa Rabkova, were considered by the Investigative Committee as “organizers and leaders of a number of organized crime groups that had autonomous cells with their own leaders across Belarusian regions”.
Alyaksandr Frantskevich was sentenced to 17 years of imprisonment,
Akihiro Haeuski-Hanada – 16 years,
Marfa Rabkova – 15 years,
Alyaksei Galauko – 12 years,
Pavel Shpetny, Mikita Dranets, Alyaksandr Kazlyanka, Andrei Chepyuk – 6 years,
Andrei Marach and Daniil Chul – 5 years.
According to eyewitnesses, after the end of the trial, at least five persons were detained at the Minsk City Court — they were “dragged into a vehicle”. Meanwhile, Grigory Azarenok, an employee of the state TV channel, was at the scene, filming the apprehension of diplomats. “He laughed, interviewed them and asked, 'How are you feeling?' while the diplomats were dragged around the ground.” There was an attempt to detain one of the attorneys of the political prisoners tried .
Among the detainees is human rights defender Nasta Lojko. According to human rights activists, she was taken to one of the Minsk police departments.
