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Acting Charge d’Affaires Asta Andrijauskienė told BNS that representatives of the French, US, German and EU delegations also attended the court hearing without her.
“The meeting was declared closed and we had to leave,” the diplomat said.
Belarusian independent media reported that their journalists were not allowed to observe the trial.
The charges in the case were brought against journalist Kaciaryna Barysevich and Dr. Arciom Sarokin, an independent news portal tut.by.
They are accused of publishing medical information about Raman Bandarenko.
Bandarenka, a 31-year-old former soldier, died on November 12 after a conflict in one of Minsk’s districts. Media reports said that on the night of November 11, when he stepped out into his yard, costumed strangers came to remove the white and red stripes from the fence. There was a conflict, Mr. Bandarenka was pushed and hit on the head and later died in hospital.
His death caused a great impact on society. Thousands of people gathered for the farewell ceremony with Mr. Bandarenka in November.
Investigators later said that Bandarenka was intoxicated with alcohol, but independent Belarusian media cited a doctor who said that no alcohol had been found in his body.
K Barysevich and A. Sarokin detained since November. If the court finds Barysevich and Sarokin guilty, they face up to three years in prison.
K. Barysevich, wearing a bright red jacket, sat in the defendants’ cage, smiled at the cameras and showed his heart, a popular gesture of the Belarusian opposition.
Prosecutors allege that Barysevich, 36, convinced Sarokin, 37, to release information about the protester and share copies of his medical records with journalists.
“I expect a fair trial”
Bandarenko’s mother, Yelena, told reporters at the beginning of the trial that Barysevich and Sarokin “did not violate any law” and had her permission to share information about her son.
“I expect a fair trial,” tut.by quoted the woman.
Earlier this week, the Belarusian Attorney General’s Office announced that it had prosecuted Bandarenko’s death, but noted that it had not found that domestic workers were involved in the activist’s bodily injuries.
In Belarus, mass protests have continued for more than half a year against the results of the presidential elections on August 9, which were declared the winners by authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has led the country since 1994. The opposition and western democracies they see those choices as rigged.
The Minsk regime began to quell these demonstrations with rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons. These actions by the security forces claimed the lives of several people. Thousands of people were found behind bars and hundreds more say they were tortured in custody.
The European Union has condemned Bandarenko’s death and the crackdown on protesters by imposing sanctions on Lukashenko and his allies.
But Moscow strongly supports Lukashenko, and Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet him next week.
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