Yesterday, December 27, the Minsk City Court was supposed to pass a sentence on the activists of the Belarusian Trade Union of Radio-Electronic Industry Workers (REP) - political prisoners Hennadz Fiadynich, Vasil Berasneu and Vatslau Areshka. The trial of trade union activists is being held behind closed doors.
Yesterday, Judge Elena Popkova unexpectedly announced that due to newly discovered circumstances, the activists' trial was postponed and asked everyone to leave the courtroom. The reasons for this decision are not yet known.
Vasil Berasneu, acting chairman of the trade union REP, Hennadz Fiadynich, deputy chairman, and Vatslau Areshka, editor of the trade union newsletter, are accused of calling for restrictive measures aimed at damaging the national security of the Republic of Belarus (part 3 of article 361 of the Criminal Code), social hostility (part 3 of article 130) and establishment or participation in extremist groups (part 1 and part 3 of article 361-1 of the Criminal Code).
This is not the first of many judicial massacres taking place over the last few months.
More than three dozen independent trade union activists are currently behind bars in Belarus.
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