Syarhei Kavalenka gets Br1m fine

Policemen in uniform guarded the court room, Radio Liberty reports. Over 20 people - police officers and plainclothes men - had been invited into the court room before the hearing started. The others were allowed to enter only after they had threatened to complain to the presiding judge. Mr Kavalenka demanded that the hearing be conducted in Belarusian, but the judge refused, saying the interpreter present in court was enough.

The activist was detained on March 25, Freedom Day in Belarus. The policemen claimed he was walking along the carriageway and started swearing at them they had made a remark about it.

Photo by: radyjo.net