VZCZCXRO5599
RR RUEHAST
DE RUEHSK #0513 1360601
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160601Z MAY 06
FM AMEMBASSY MINSK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4394
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNOSC/ORGANIZATION FOR SECURITY COOPERATION IN EUROPE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 1147
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS MINSK 000513 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM BO
SUBJECT: Youth Activist Gets Two Years Restricted Freedom 
 
REF:  Minsk 448 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  After a six-day postponement, the trial of Malady 
Front activist and anti-Lukashenko graffitist Artur Finkevich 
concluded on May 10. Although Finkevich had been facing up to 
twelve years in prison, the judge sentenced Finkevich to two years 
of restricted freedom. During two days of hearings, the government 
arrested several Finkevich supporters and prevented journalists 
from covering the verdict.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  The trial of Malady Front activist Artur Finkevich commenced on 
May 4 at the Pervomaisky District Court in Minsk.  Finkevich was 
arrested on January 30 for spray-painting "We want a new one 
[president]" and other anti-Lukashenko graffiti on buildings in 
Minsk.  Authorities charged Finkevich with malicious hooliganism. 
In April, authorities added a large-scale property damage charge, 
claiming Finkevich inflicted USD 16,370 in damages on one wall 
alone.  If convicted, Finkevich could have been sentenced to up to 
12 years in prison.  Many opposition activists consider the charges 
politically motivated. 
 
¶3.  Poloffs attending the hearing on May 4 witnessed two-dozen 
youth in front of the Pervomaisky courthouse trying to gain access 
to the courtroom that was already full of reporters, supporters, 
and the prosecutor's witnesses.  Judge Viktoriya Zaitseva read the 
charges, to which Finkevich pleaded not guilty.  Finkevich admitted 
that he wrote graffiti on 10-15 buildings and even pointed out the 
places on a map for the Prosecutor.  However, he claimed he was 
expressing his political opinion and considered the charges absurd. 
Judge Zaitseva ruled that the damage estimate was exaggerated and 
postponed the hearing to May 10 so that the housing authority could 
obtain proper documentation. 
 
¶4.  As Poloffs left the courthouse, five Finkevich supporters were 
marching in single file in protest.  Journalists were taking 
pictures while BGKB plainclothes officers and OMON riot police were 
videotaping not too far away.  Independent online news source 
Belapan later reported that OMON officers arrested eight out of 
dozens of supporters holding portraits of Finkevich outside the 
courthouse.  Those arrested included Aleksei Kozulin (presidential 
candidate Aleksandr Kozulin's nephew), Aleksandr Reznikov, Yury 
Tolstoi, Andrei Ignatchik, Nadezhda Baturo, Kristina Shatikova, and 
journalists Natalya Volokido and Tatiana Snitko.  The two 
journalists were released and Shatikova was fined USD 720.  The 
rest were tried immediately at the Pervomaisky courthouse and 
sentenced to five days in jail for holding an unsanctioned 
demonstration. 
 
¶5.  On May 10 Finkevich's hearing was scheduled to resume at 10:30 
a.m.  Unlike May 4, there were no protestors outside the 
courthouse.  Poloffs observed about a dozen journalists and 
cameramen who were prevented by guards from entering the 
courthouse.  When journalists demanded to speak with the court 
administration, the guards said that the administrator was absent. 
At 10:45 a.m. several journalists and United Civic Party (UCP) 
leader Anatoly Lebedko signed the courthouse's complaint book. 
Later, during a recess, police detained two journalists, Nataliya 
Valakida of the UCP Press Service and Tatsyana Snitko of "Nasha 
Niva" a half an hour.  Following the recess, the judge sentenced 
Finkevich to two years of restricted freedom ("khimii"). 
 
¶7.  In a similar case involving dubious charges, Zubr youth leader 
Nikita Sasim on May 12 was sentenced in Baranichsky Regional Court 
to three months arrest for draft evasion.  Sasim had received a 
waiver from military service due to head injuries caused by police 
during a peaceful protest in September 2005 (reftel). Prior to 
sentencing, Sasim spent three months in investigative detention. 
 
KROL