March 18, Investigative Department of preliminary investigation of Minsk police charged former presidential candidates Nikolai Statkevich and Dmitri Uss with "organizing riots, involving personal violence, pogroms, arson, property destruction, armed resistance to the authorities" under Part 1 Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of Belarus and could face 5-15 years imprisonment.
According to the Interior Ministry, the investigation provided their lawyers with an opportunity to get acquainted with the case, which will be further sent to the Minsk prosecutor’s office for directions to the court.
According to the investigation, «overwhelming evidences of Nikolai Statkevich and Dmitry Uss’s guilt for organizing mass disturbances in Minsk on December 19, 2010 were received during the investigation of the criminal case. Thus, the investigation has the testimony of witnesses and other defendants, as well as photo and video materials, which, according to the investigators, indicate the involvement of ex-candidates in the organization of riots.
In addition, the Interior Ministry said that the investigation had also received «no less convincing proof of another five defendants’ involvement in the riots.» They are Alexander Kviatkevich, Dmitri Bulanov, Artem Hribkov and Andrei Pozniak.
They are accused of involvement in pogroms, destruction of property of the Government House, as well as the use of physical force against the policemen for the protection of public order on Election Day in Minsk.
March 16, four defendants were charged under Part 2 Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (participation in the riots). March 17, Alexander Klaskovski was indicted under Part 1 and 2 Art. 293 (organization and participation in the riots), Art. 369 (insulting a government official), as well as Art. 382 (unauthorized appropriation of the title or the authority of an official) of the Criminal Code of Belarus.
As Telegraf previously reported, according to Human Rights Centre «Viasna,» 36 people were accused in the case on December 19 on March 17, 2011, of which 24 are now in custody, two — under house arrest, nine — on recognizance not to leave. 13 people are considered as suspects, one of them is in custody, two are outside the country, the rest — under travel ban.
Meanwhile, seven defendants in cases on December 19 have already been condemned. Four have been sentenced to prison on different terms, two have been fined and one defendant has been sentenced to imprisonment in the open type institution.
