Today, the court of the Oktyabrsky district of Minsk considered cases of at least twenty foreign visitors to Belarus. They were charged with article 23.4 of the administrative code of the Republic of Belarus [disobedience to a lawful order or requirement of an official during the performance of his/her official duties].
The first information about the trials of foreigners appeared in the Lists of Detainees Telegram channel. According to the available documents, the court of the Oktyabrsky district of Minsk considered at least twenty cases involving foreign visitors to Belarus.
Assistant to the chairman of the court Farida Mammadova explained that most of them were tried for violating self-quarantine rules. Judging by the trials’ schedule, a judge considered each case for about 5-10 minutes tops. The accused were mostly punished with fines, noted the court representative.
Recall that from 10 April 2020, it is a punishable offence not to comply with an official instruction to self-isolate, with fines starting at BYN 58 to BYN 1,450 [$35/€30 – $550/€1,450] or administrative arrest. An administrative report is drawn up against the violator under article 23.4 of the Administrative Code of Belarus.
