Minsk City Court leaves Euroradio journalist in jail
Pavel Svyardlou's sentence pronounced by Moscow District Court has not been changed.
Minsk City Court has considered the appeal lodged by Euroradio journalist Pavel Svaydlou today, on July 6. Only the lawyer attended the hearing.
The only change made by the City Court is "cosmetic". The old sentence said that Svyardlou had not reacted to policemen's remarks. The new one says that there were no remarks. Let us remind you that Euroradio has found witnesses who saw Svayrdlou's detention right after he had left his house. The witnesses say that Svyardlou did not swear and that his detention looked like a purposeful ambush.
Svyardlou's appeal reached the court on the evening of June 29. Meanwhile, Pavel's 15-day imprisonment will finish on July 7.
Let us remind you that Euroradio journalist Pavel Svyardlou was detained near his house in the morning of June 22. According to witnesses, Pavel walked out of the house saying nothing and two men in plain clothes approached him, introduced themselves as policemen and suggested he should go to a police bus with them. According to the police, the journalist and the winner of the crystal owl (the best player award of the "What? Where? When?" contest) swore in public "for no reason and with no addressee", and did not react to the policemen's warnings. In the end, he was delivered to the Moscow District Department of Internal Affairs.
The policemen did not let him call his family and colleagues and write down his own version of the events in the report. Minsk Moscow District Court sentenced Svyardlou to 15 days of detention on that very day. As Pavel had no opportunity to provide any information about himself, the lawyer and Pavel's colleagues arrived when the judge was already pronouncing the sentence.
The journalist lodged an appeal against the sentence right after his first meeting with the lawyer in Akrestsina Street detention centre on June 25. The lawyer also sent her own appeal the next day. The hearing was appointed to take place in Minsk City Court on June 29 at 3 p.m. However, it turned out that Svyardlou's appeal had not reached the court within the four days and the hearing was postponed.
