Euroradio journalist jailed for 15 days
Pavel Svyardlou was accused of swearing. He will serve his sentence in Akrestsina. (Updated)
16.19 The hearing of Pavel Svyardlou's case (Euroradio journalist) is over, informs Vital Zyblyuk. The judge is preparing to pronounce the sentence now. The lawyer has not been allowed to enter the court room. It was stated that the journalist had refused from the lawyer's presence! However, he demanded a lawyer when the hearing was about to start. According to the lawyer, the judge said that the journalist was accused of swearing.
The lawyer will be able to study the case papers after the sentence is pronounced.
16.05 The Euroradio journalist detained for the administrative violation "petty hooliganism" is standing trial in the court room used for "criminal cases". And the lawyer has not even arrived yet! As Euroradio has found out, Matyl's spokesperson has informed the lawyer that Svyardlou... flatly refused from the lawyer's help! A "fair" sentence is expected to be pronounced soon.
15.57 As it was informed earlier, court room #1 is empty. The Euroradio journalist's trial has not started yet - there are no people in the court room. The trial may have already started in the lawyer's absence. And there are no witnesses of "the hearing" either.
15.30 Euroradio editor-in-chief Vital Zyblyuk has arrived at Minsk Moscow District Court.
You can listen to the audio here
He has informed on air that a break has started in court and that the hearing will be resumed at 15.45. Then it will be possible to enter the court room. Pavel is standing trial for petty hooliganism according to article 17.1 of the Administrative Code. Judge Matyl, already known due to political prisoners' cases and blacklisted by the EU, is conducting the hearing.
According to Vital Zyblyuk, our reporter was detained at about 10 a.m. when he left his house and was going to work. The detention could be organized by employees of the organized crime prevention department who are dealing with cases connected with terrorism. Euroradio has recently published a report about Minsk metro - journalists carrying heavy bags entered different metro stations and nobody paid attention to them. The detention of Pavel Svyardlou could be organized out of revenge.
14.55 Euroradio journalist Pavel Svyardlou was detained by 5 strangers in plain clothes without any explanation at about 10 a.m. today, on June 22. It is not clear where he spent several hours after the detention. The journalist managed to phone the editorial office at 2 p.m. and said that he was in Moscow District Court where he was about to stand trial for "petty hooliganism" according to article 117.1.
Meanwhile, a minibus with people in plain clothes resembling the one Pavel Svyardlou was pushed in has been parked near Euroradio's office since the afternoon.
