Yury Rubtsou’s sentence to be delivered today

• 28.05.2015, 8:07

The prosecutor requires three years in a colony for a political prisoner.

Yury Rybtsou is accused under Article 415 of the Criminal Code (avoidance of serving punishment) for repeated refusal of proposed vacations when serving punishment in the open-type correctional facility (OPCF) in Kuplin village, Pruzhany district, Brest region. HRC Viasna informs.

At the hearing the prosecutor Zaitsava required three years in the colony, HRC Viasna informs.

On May 27 more than 15 witnesses testified that Rubtsou had not refused categorically work, but had not agreed to work at a low-paid job.

After a two-hour break the court heard some more witnesses and went over arguments. For example, the prosecutor saw in Rubtsou's multiple refusals of job placement recurrence of an intended crime and asked to impose punishment in form of deprivation of liberty for 2.5 years in the colony and in view of the valid term of imprisonment - 3 years.

In turn, Rubtsou's lawyer drew the court's attention to the fact that the activist had not impeded job placement, he had received job placement and passed medical examination. However, when registration of a legal contract, Rubtsou discovered a number of weak-points, which did not allow him to sign the contract. The lawyer asked to acquit her defendant in a connection with absence of the event of a crime and assign him a minimum term in a case of finding him guilty.

Yuri Rubtsov noted the work of prisoners was less paid than that of free citizens. At the same time the Homel activist told he had been threatened with a sentence if he did not sign an employment agreement. But, he said, such employment contract under threat contradicted the Labour Code of Belarus.

The sentence will be delivered on May 28.