The court found the activist of the civil campaign "Tell the truth!" Michael Bashura guilty under Article №380 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (Forgery, manufacture, use or sale of forged documents, stamps, forms). Despite the fact that the oppositionist completely denied his guilt, the court of the Soviet District of Minsk convicted him and fined Br17.5 million on October 19.
Having been sentenced, Michael Bashura was released on his own recognizance, the campaign «Tell the truth!» said.
«I disagree with the verdict, we will consult my lawyer about appellation … The main reason I was kept in prison is my work in the campaign, «Tell the truth!», and the prosecutors did not hide this fact,» the activist said after his release.
«But the good news is that I’m out of prison. I plan to take a day of rest, and then to engage in work again: I have to make a presentation of my book that has just come out, and to engage in public activities. All the more that I did not waste time in prison — I have some plans, concrete ideas … Tentatively saying, healthy people die in jail: people who came there healthy, now are dying. Two people have just died. At Volodarka. But I’m still going to work with «Tell the Truth!», Michael Bashura added.
Activist companions are encouraged by the court decision because they feared for Michael Bashura to spend six months in jail. «The truth has won! What happened in the court of the Soviet District of Minsk — is not just a private victory of Bashura and his lawyer Tamara Sidorenko, who brilliantly conducted the entire process. It is not only the victory of the campaign «Tell the truth!» in defending its activist. This is a victory of the Belarusian civil society in combating the political regime of Lukashenko, who has apparently got weakened. The decision of judge Paluleh not only points to the fairness of the trial, but shows the slackening of the regime: one is no longer afraid of it,» the leader of the campaign» Tell the truth!», presidential candidate Vladimir Niakliaeu commented.
As Telegraf previously reported, an activist of the civil campaign «Tell the truth!» Michael Bashura had been accused of the deliberate falsification of his income certificate for his wife to get the bank loan. However, the man pleaded not guilty. The court began trial on October 11.
