Yahor Martsinovich And Andrei Skurko Were Sentenced To Two And A Half Years In A Colony

• 15.03.2022, 16:02

An illegal verdict was pronounced by a judge of the Zavodski district of Minsk against the editors of Nasha Niva.

Yahor Martsinovich and Andrei Skurko were sentenced to two and a half years in a colony. Anzhela Kastsiukevich, the judge of the Zavodski district of Minsk, announced today such a verdict. The same term was requested yesterday by prosecutor Mikalai Dziatsel, reports Nasha Niva.

The journalists who are political prisoners have been found “guilty” on absurd charges.

In the last word, the journalists of Nasha Niva spoke about their relatives, for whom the imprisonment was a big blow, and sent words of support to those who were with them.

Yahor Martsinovich and Andrei Skurko were detained on July 8, 2021. On that day, Andrei Dynko, the editor of Nasha Historyia, and Volha Rakovich, the accountant, were also detained. They were released after 10 days. In relation to Volha Rakovich after a while criminal prosecution had been stopped.

Prosecutors opened the criminal cases against Yahor Martsinovich and Andrei Skurko under Part 2 of Art. 216 of the Criminal Code. The journalists of Nasha Niva were prosecuted in accordance with the article for economic crimes, for payment of utility services at tariffs for individuals, not legal entities.

Initially, the damage was calculated in the amount of BYR 3,500. Then this sum grew up to BYR 10,000. The journalists had provided compensation for damage before the trial, as a result, Minskvodokanal and Minskenergo withdrew the claims.