Court declares a girl who served 5-days arrest for silent action not guilty

After the silent action which took place back on July 6, 2011, a 27-year-old Mahileu inhabitant Julia Harachankova served 5 days of arrest in the Akrestsina Street detention center. Two plain-clothed agents arrested the girl near the National Library in Minsk, when she tried to save a young boy from them.

"He was very thin and looked too young. They caught him by the armpits and carried somewhere. I tried to help him - I ran up to them and started pulling him out of their hands. However, I failed in that - the men were strong and dragged me to the bus together with him", - Julia has told to Euroradio.

The girl was accused of petty hooliganism - bad swearing in a public place. One of the plain-clothed agents who detained her happened to be a policeman and gave evidence against her.

In the court, the girl got confused and decided to defend herself. She was quite a success in that - judge Jury Harbatouski gave her only 5 days of detention out of the possible 15. Then Julia applied for a lawyer.

Julia Harachankova: "This was a rather hilarious situation. Two policemen were supposed to witness against me (one of them failed to appear in court on July 7). However, it is stated in the case's materials that these policemen had interrogated one another! This January, during reconsideration of the case, the lawyer turned the court's attention to this violation. The judge took this fact into account when she read the final resolution".

Julia appealed the sentence in Minsk city court right after release in July.

Julia Harachankova: "The city court left the sentence issued by the Pershamayski district court in force - they found no violations".

The girls whom Julia met in the Akrestsina Street detention center also tried to appeal their sentences. However, when they got denials from the city court they decided not to pursue it further. Julia decided to go to the end. As a result, on December 16 Chairman of the Supreme Court Valyantsin Sukala withdrew the resolution of the Pershamayski district court and sent Julia Harachankova's case for reconsideration.

This is how the case got back to the Pershamayski district court of Minsk. However, this time another judge was appointed - Hanna Paskevich.

Julia Harachankova: "This trial of the district court was postponed several times, as the witnesses did not come. However, it did happen on January 10. The witnesses came, the judge interrogated them and declared me not guilty."

Will the policemen who witnessed against Julia in July, be punished? Will the unfairly convicted girl get any compensation for the five days of her life spent in the Akrestsina Street detention center? These questions are still to be answered. 

"These questions are not in the court's competence, — representatives of the Pershamayski district court have told to Euroradio. — Only the circumstances of the case are stated in the court's resolution".

"The court may state certain facts in a private note. This is a separate document prepared by the court in case they find violations of the law. The court may send it to the public prosecution, or to the police - wherever they find it necessary," - they say in the Minsk city prosecution. It is still unknown whether judge Hanna Paskevich is going to issue such private note on Julia Harachankova's case.

Julia wants to receive compensation and to complain about the police's actions to the public prosecution. However, she hasn't discussed it with her lawyer yet - it is necessary to wait 10 days since the date the court resolution was issued, and it will become the final one.