SERGEY PARSYUKEVICH: THIRD POLITICAL PRISONER

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VILNIUS 000279 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY MINSK SENDS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM PINR BO SUBJECT: SERGEY PARSYUKEVICH: THIRD POLITICAL PRISONER REF: VILNIUS 268 Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Minsk's Moskovskiy District Court sentenced entrepreneur activist Sergey Parsyukevich to two and a half years' imprisonment and about USD 500 in damages for allegedly striking a prison guard while incarcerated for participation in a peaceful demonstration. The harsh sentence -- which some see as a retaliation for Parsyukevich's claims of brutality by guards -- followed a farce of a trial that included a witness who "forgot" what he saw, but had a summary of his previous testimony entered into the record anyway. With this verdict, Parsyukevich joins Aleksandr Kozulin and Andrey Kim (reftel) as Belarus' third prisoner of conscience. End summary. Farce of a Trial Gives Entrepreneur 2.5 Years -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Vitebsk-based entrepreneur activist Sergey Parsyukevich was convicted April 23 of assaulting a police officer and sentenced to 2 years and six months' detention in a penal colony. He was also ordered to pay BYR 1.1 million (USD 513) in damages. Parsyukevich, himself a former policeman, was accused of striking a prison guard January 21 while serving administrative detention in Minsk's Okrestina Prison for his role in non-violent entrepreneurs' demonstrations held in January 2008. A/DCM observed the proceedings, as did former presidential candidate and For Freedom Chair Aleksandr Milinkevich, former political prisoners Nikolay Statkevich and Pavel Severinets and other human rights and democracy activists. Those in attendance at the sentencing were struck by its severity and shouted down the judge with cries of "Shame" and "Fascism." ¶3. (SBU) Parsyukevich's lawyer, human rights advocate Vera Stremkovskaya, told A/DCM prior to the proceedings that she expected a guilty verdict, but hoped for a sentence of forced labor ("khimya") rather than the six-year jail term possible under the Belarusian Criminal Code. In the end, the 2.5 year sentence was just six months shy of the prosecutor's request. Presiding Judge Vladimir Aleksandrovich Ovseyenko summarily dismissed all defense testimony while admitting the testimony of a prisoner who, over the course of the investigation and trial, offered three separate versions of the events in question. Moreover, a summary of this prosecution witness' previous "testimony" corresponded word for word with the testimony of a police officer. Defense counsel probed to establish if the witness had been offered pre-printed testimony to sign, and asked him to recount events in his own words, but the judge ruled the question out of order, noting that the witness had already admitted he had forgotten much of the event in question. ¶4. (SBU) Following the reading of the verdict and sentence, Stremkovskaya complained to A/DCM that the court had not given her a copy of the verdict and had refused to accept medication for Parsyukevich. Stremkovskaya said that she feared for Parsyukevich's physical and mental state due to his six weeks of pre-trial detention. Parsyukevich suffers from asthma and his condition, in Stremkovskaya's estimation, had been exacerbated by his detention in an overcrowded cell with little time for fresh air or exercise. Activists See Charge as Retaliation -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Human rights activists present at the trial lamented the lack of credible evidence offered against Parsyukevich and noted that charges had been lodged against him as a direct result of Parsyukevich's own claims that prison guards had beaten him during detention. An opposition politician present for the reading of the verdict told A/DCM that GOB sources had indicated to him that Parsyukevich, Andrey Kim and Aleksandr Kozulin would likely be used by the regime as bargaining chips with the West either before or right after parliamentary elections scheduled for September 2008. Comment -------------- ¶6. (SBU) This trial, both in terms of process and product, was an abject travesty and an offense against both justice and human reason. As with Kim, there can be no doubt that Parsyukevich now serves a lengthy prison term chiefly because of his participation in January's entrepreneurs' demonstrations. Moreover, this conviction sends a chilling message to those in detention in Belarus: a claim of maltreatment at the hands of prison personnel can turn a VILNIUS 00000279 002 OF 002 fifteen-day sentence into years of hard time. MOORE CLOUD