Updated at 13:52,22-04-2024

Zmitser Dashkevich to stand trial on August 28

BelaPAN

Zmitser Dashkevich, the imprisoned leader of an opposition youth organization called Malady (Young) Front who is facing a charge of persistent violation of prison rules, is scheduled to stand trial in Correctional Institution No. 13 in Hlybokaye, Vitsyebsk region, on August 28, according to the Malady Front press office.

The charge, brought against the 31-year-old Dashkevich in July, may lead to his prison term being extended by one year.

The trial will be held behind closed doors, the Malady Front press office said.

On March 24, 2011, Mr. Dashkevich was sentenced to two years in a minimum-security correctional institution on a charge of "especially malicious hooliganism."

He was arrested in Minsk on December 18, 2010, on the eve of a scheduled large-scale post-election demonstration, for allegedly beating up two passers-by. Speaking during his trial, Mr. Dashkevich said that the incident was a provocation orchestrated by authorities and accused the two alleged victims of giving false testimony.

In September 2011, he refused an offer of freedom in exchange for asking Alyaksandr Lukashenka for a presidential pardon.