Political prisoner Andrei Kim behind bars for 6th month

• 22.07.2008, 11:49

21 July 6 months has passed since the youth leader Andrei Kim was arrested. The oppositionist was detained on 21 January at a protest action of entrepreneurs in Minsk.

The Tsentralny district court of Minsk (judge Alena Illina) sentenced Andrei Kim to 1.5 years of imprisonment. The court found the youth leader guilty of participating in an unauthorised protest action of entrepreneurs and in attack on traffic militia officer Yury Sychou. However, guilt of Andrei Kim wasn’t proved in the court. The video materials of the KGB, Ministry of Internal Afaires and Belarusian TV showed Sychou had been hit by another militiaman. Andrei Kim didn’t stay near the militiaman.

The civil society of Belarus as well as governments of the EU countries and the US, international human rights organisations demand to release Andrei Kim and other political prisoners, namely former candidate for president of Belarus Alyaksandr Kazulin and entrepreneurs’ leader Syarhei Parsyukevich.