VZCZCXRO6751
OO RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHBW RUEHDA RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHVL #0279/01 1151024
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 241024Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY VILNIUS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2213
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0214
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000279 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR BO
SUBJECT: SERGEY PARSYUKEVICH: THIRD POLITICAL PRISONER 
 
REF:  VILNIUS 268 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Minsk's Moskovskiy District Court sentenced entrepreneur 
activist Sergey Parsyukevich to two and a half years' imprisonment 
and about USD 500 in damages for allegedly striking a prison guard 
while incarcerated for participation in a peaceful demonstration. 
The harsh sentence -- which some see as a retaliation for 
Parsyukevich's claims of brutality by guards -- followed a farce of 
a trial that included a witness who "forgot" what he saw, but had a 
summary of his previous testimony entered into the record anyway. 
With this verdict, Parsyukevich joins Aleksandr Kozulin and Andrey 
Kim (reftel) as Belarus' third prisoner of conscience.  End summary. 
 
 
Farce of a Trial Gives Entrepreneur 2.5 Years 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Vitebsk-based entrepreneur activist Sergey Parsyukevich 
was convicted April 23 of assaulting a police officer and sentenced 
to 2 years and six months' detention in a penal colony.  He was also 
ordered to pay BYR 1.1 million (USD 513) in damages.  Parsyukevich, 
himself a former policeman, was accused of striking a prison guard 
January 21 while serving administrative detention in Minsk's 
Okrestina Prison for his role in non-violent entrepreneurs' 
demonstrations held in January 2008.  A/DCM observed the 
proceedings, as did former presidential candidate and For Freedom 
Chair Aleksandr Milinkevich, former political prisoners Nikolay 
Statkevich and Pavel Severinets and other human rights and democracy 
activists.  Those in attendance at the sentencing were struck by its 
severity and shouted down the judge with cries of "Shame" and 
"Fascism." 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Parsyukevich's lawyer, human rights advocate Vera 
Stremkovskaya, told A/DCM prior to the proceedings that she expected 
a guilty verdict, but hoped for a sentence of forced labor 
("khimya") rather than the six-year jail term possible under the 
Belarusian Criminal Code.  In the end, the 2.5 year sentence was 
just six months shy of the prosecutor's request.  Presiding Judge 
Vladimir Aleksandrovich Ovseyenko summarily dismissed all defense 
testimony while admitting the testimony of a prisoner who, over the 
course of the investigation and trial, offered three separate 
versions of the events in question.  Moreover, a summary of this 
prosecution witness' previous "testimony" corresponded word for word 
with the testimony of a police officer.  Defense counsel probed to 
establish if the witness had been offered pre-printed testimony to 
sign, and asked him to recount events in his own words, but the 
judge ruled the question out of order, noting that the witness had 
already admitted he had forgotten much of the event in question. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Following the reading of the verdict and sentence, 
Stremkovskaya complained to A/DCM that the court had not given her a 
copy of the verdict and had refused to accept medication for 
Parsyukevich.  Stremkovskaya said that she feared for Parsyukevich's 
physical and mental state due to his six weeks of pre-trial 
detention.  Parsyukevich suffers from asthma and his condition, in 
Stremkovskaya's estimation, had been exacerbated by his detention in 
an overcrowded cell with little time for fresh air or exercise. 
 
Activists See Charge as Retaliation 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Human rights activists present at the trial lamented the 
lack of credible evidence offered against Parsyukevich and noted 
that charges had been lodged against him as a direct result of 
Parsyukevich's own claims that prison guards had beaten him during 
detention.  An opposition politician present for the reading of the 
verdict told A/DCM that GOB sources had indicated to him that 
Parsyukevich, Andrey Kim and Aleksandr Kozulin would likely be used 
by the regime as bargaining chips with the West either before or 
right after parliamentary elections scheduled for September 2008. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) This trial, both in terms of process and product, was an 
abject travesty and an offense against both justice and human 
reason.  As with Kim, there can be no doubt that Parsyukevich now 
serves a lengthy prison term chiefly because of his participation in 
January's entrepreneurs' demonstrations.  Moreover, this conviction 
sends a chilling message to those in detention in Belarus: a claim 
of maltreatment at the hands of prison personnel can turn a 
 
VILNIUS 00000279  002 OF 002 
 
 
fifteen-day sentence into years of hard time. 
 
MOORE 
CLOUD