Prosecutors seek five years of 'restricted liberty' for Belarusian union officials
| Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
| Publication Date | 17 August 2018 |
| Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Prosecutors seek five years of 'restricted liberty' for Belarusian union officials, 17 August 2018, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5bc052b66.html [accessed 6 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 17, 2018 13:50 GMT
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
Union leaders Ihar Komlik (left) and Henadz Fyadynich appear in court on July 30.
MINSK – Prosecutors are seeking sentences of five years of "restricted liberty" in the high-profile trial in Belarus of two officials of an independent labor union that played an organizing role in street protests in 2017.
Prosecutor Liliyana Litvinyuk also asked the Lenin district court in Minsk on August 17 to confiscate the property of union leader Henadz Fyadynich and union accountant Ihar Komlik and bar them from occupying management positions for five years.
"Restricted liberty" is a suspended custodial sentence with parole-like restrictions.
Fyadynich and Komlik were charged with tax evasion in August 2017. Komlik was taken into pretrial custody at that time, but was released in October. The two were ordered not to leave Minsk.
Fyadynich and Komlik reject the charges, saying they are politically motivated punishment for the union's role in organizing protests in February-March 2017 against legislation that would impose a tax on the unemployed.
Critics of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the authoritarian leader who has held power in Belarus since 1994, say his government routinely uses the justice system to suppress dissent.
Link to original story on RFE/RL website
