Persons, involved in "the case of December 19," citizens of Russia Artem Breus and Ivan Gaponov, were charged anew in Minsk court of the Moscow district on March 1 — under Part 2 of Article 293 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (participation in the riots). Thus, earlier allegations have not been removed from the Russian citizens. They are still charged with "participation in an unsanctioned" rally, property destruction and armed resistance," which may entail 3-8 years in prison.
Presenting the prosecution to Ivan Gaponov, the prosecutor said that the offender «joined the disorderly crowd of several thousand people» on December 19. «Ivan Gaponov, as a part of a disorderly crowd, tried to forcefully break through the cordon of internal affairs, which prevented penetration into the Government House. Ivan Gaponov applied force: a lot of kicks on police’s protective subjects,» says the charges, brought against the Russian citizen.
Another citizen of Russia, Artem Breus, was similarly charges, BelTA informs.
The prosecutor stressed that rioters were carrying Molotov cocktails, wooden sticks, metal bars during a rally at Independence Square, through which they subsequently destroyed state property and caused various injuries to police officers.
Trial over Breusov and Gaponov Resumes on March 10
The court adjourned the hearing until March 10 to give time to the defendants to get acquainted with the new indictment. In addition, at the prosecutor’s request, the case was attached with new documents, including the results of medical examination, recognizing a number of police officers as injured.
As Telegraf previously reported, hearings over Artem Breus and Ivan Gaponov began on February 22. The court adjourned term until March 1 after hearing the witnesses and defendants, as well as reading the video data of the case.
Both the Russians pleaded not guilty in the assault to law enforcement officers, smashing windows in the building of Government House and shouting anti-government slogans, which were presented to them on the first day of the hearing.
Meanwhile, Russian officials keep on hoping for the court to make a fair decision in respect of Russian citizens Artem Breus and Ivan Gaponov. «You can’t but see that there have been no motivated accusations against our citizens so far,» said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich on February 24.
