English

Trial of Awtukhovich, Asipenka begins at Supreme Court

The trial of Vawkavysk businessman Mikalay Awtukhovich and his associate Uladzimir Asipenka began at the Supreme Court of Belarus on March 10, BelaPAN said.

In November 2009, Messrs. Awtukhovich and Asipenka were charged with preparations for an act of terrorism in addition to the previously brought charges of perpetrating a series of arsons and explosions targeting the property of local officials in Vawkavysk, Hrodna region.

The Wednesday hearing began at 10:15 a.m. and lasted only two hours. The presiding judge, Alyaksey Tsyatsyukhin, granted a motion by Mr. Awtukhovich for additional time to study the case file. The next hearing was scheduled for Tuesday, March 16.

Although police and other officials had promised that the case would be heard in an open session, only some 20 selected people were allowed to attend and then a court secretary announced in the lobby that the 70-seat courtroom was full to capacity.

Apart from Messrs. Awtukhovich and Asipenka, who have already spent more than a year in pretrial detention, there were two more persons sitting in the defendant’s cage, Alyaksandr Laryn and Mikhail Kazlow.

Judge Tsyatsyukin banned cameras from the courtroom, referring to a request by Mr. Laryn.

The judge rejected Mr. Awtukhovich’s request for prominent rights defender Aleh Volchak and Alyaksandr Kamarowski, co-chairman of the Fatherland of Defenders association of veterans of the USSR's Afghanistan war, to join the defense team. The judge explained that Messrs. Awtukhovich and Asipenka already had highly skilled defense lawyers.

Also rejected was a motion by Mr. Awtukhovich’s lawyer, Pavel Sapelka, who argued that there were no grounds for the case to be heard at the Supreme Court and asked for the case to be committed to the Minsk City Court or the Hrodna Regional Court so that the accused would have more opportunities to appeal.

Mr. Awtukhovich, his former business partner Yury Lyavonaw and Mr. Asipenka were arrested by personnel of the Almaz anti-terror police unit in armed raids in their hometown of Vawkavysk, Hrodna region, on February 8, 2009.

The interior ministry announced after six months that Mr. Awtukhovich was charged with making preparations a few years ago for murdering Uladzimir Sawchanka, chairman of the Hrodna Regional Executive Committee, and Deputy Tax Minister Vasil Kamyanko.

Mr. Lyavonaw was released on his own recognizance in early August. On September 24, he was notified that all charges against him had been dropped.