A district judge in Minsk on November 8 sentenced Uladzimir Jaromienak, a member of an opposition youth organization called Young Front, to 15 days in jail over an attempt to splash valerian tincture on the statue of Vladimir Lenin in Minsk’s Independence Square where the House of Government is located.
The sentence was handed down by judge Tacciana Matyl who is on the European Union’s blacklist of Belarusians subject to entry bans and asset freezes for their role in the government’s crackdown on political opponents.
Jaromienak was found guilty of “petty hooliganism” (disorderly conduct) under Article 17.1 of the Civil Offenses Code on the basis of testimony by a police officer.
Jaromienak was arrested in Independence Square on Tuesday evening by security officers of the House of Government. He was held in detention until his trial.
In May 2011, Jaromienak was sentenced to three years in prison in connection with a post-election protest staged in square on December 19, 2010.
He was granted a presidential pardon on August 11, 2011 and released three days later.
Since then, Jaromienak has repeatedly been arrested and punished under the Civil Offenses Code.
A district judge in Minsk placed him under “preventive” police supervision this past March.
Two Young Front activists were sentenced to seven days in jail and one received a 10-day jail sentence after they threw eggs toward the Lenin statue in Independence Square during a rally that the pro-government Communist Party of Belarus held there on November 7, 2011 on the occasion of the anniversary of the October (Bolshevik) Revolution.
Young Front then said in a statement that the egg attack was meant to remind the public of Communist crimes.
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