Participant of Process of 14 Mikhail Pashkevich given amnesty

• 12.06.2009, 13:48

The leaser of “Young Democrats” was familiarized with an order of the prosecutor of the Byaroza district saying he was included in the amnesty.

In April 2008, Mikhail Pashkevich and other opposition activists were sentenced to two years of restraint of liberty for participation in protest actions of entrepreneurs. He served his term in Minsk and then had to move to Byaroza (the Brest region) to his parents, “Nasha Niva” reminds.

The oppositionist was included in the amnesty as he had served a third of his sentence (almost 9 months) and the article he was punished under is not serious.

Mikhail Pashkevich is the first participant of the Process of 14 who has been included in the amnesty.

The Case of 14 is a criminal case under article 342 of the Criminal Code of Belarus instigated against participants of a peaceful protest rally of entrepreneurs held in Minsk on January 10, 2008.

The Tsentralny district court sentenced youth activist Andrei Kim to 1.5 years in penal colony for participation in this rally. Kim was released in August 2008. Activist of the civil campaign “European Belarus” Alyaksandr Barazenka was sentenced to a year of restraint of liberty without sending him to a correction facility; he was in remand jail since October 27 to trial on December 9, 2008. The rest participants of the Process of 14 – Artsyom Dubski, Alyaksei Bondar, Mikhail Kryvau, Mikhail Pashkevich, Alyaksandr Straltsou, Alyaksandr Charnyshou, Tatsyana Tsishkevich, Mikhail Subach, and Pavel Vinahradau– got 2 years of restraint of liberty without sending them to correction facilities. Minor Maksim Dashuk was sentenced to 1.5 years of restraint of liberty.

Amnesty International human rights watchdog recognized participants of the Process of 14 prisoners of conscience in 2009.