VZCZCXRO0389
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHLN
RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVL #0247 1080730
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 170730Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2178
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0209
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS VILNIUS 000247 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR BO
SUBJECT: SECURITY TIGHT AT MASS TRIAL OF DEMONSTRATORS 
 
REF: VILNIUS 222 
 
¶1.  (U) A/Pol/Econ Chief attended the April 16 opening of the trial 
of ten youth activists accused of participating in the unsanctioned 
January 21 demonstration for entrepreneurs' rights.  Among the 
defendants is Andrey Kim, who has been in custody since January 31 
and is facing additional charges of assaulting a police officer. 
Four additional defendants were scheduled to be tried, though their 
hearings have been postponed because they did not have time to 
review case files.  Also observing the trial were the Slovak Head of 
Mission and representatives from the Czech and French Embassies. 
The trial continues April 17. 
 
¶2.  (U) The security presence was considerably higher than at recent 
trials.  Over 15 Spetsnaz and twenty policemen were on hand to 
disperse the unusually large crowd of supporters hoping to attend 
the trial.  Dozens of youth activists waited outside the courtroom 
holding portraits of the defendants.  Prior to A/Pol/Econ Chief's 
arrival, riot police encircled the court building and dispersed 
about 70 supporters.  Inside the courtroom, several of the 
defendants wore T-shirts emblazoned with the citation from the 
Belarusian Constitution that guarantees freedom of expression and 
assembly.  One defendant, Mikhail Krivov, is an alumnus of the 
USG-funded Muskie Fellowship program and attended San Jose State 
University in 2006. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) As reported previously, Kim may become an additional 
political prisoner and we continue to track his trial closely.  It 
is a positive sign that EU diplomats -- who were not in evidence at 
the trial in Polotsk of youth activist Yekaterina Solovyova (reftel) 
and attended the March 25 protest in very small numbers -- have 
raised their public profile in this case. 
 
MOORE 
LEADER