Eduard Babaryka, who along with his father was arrested in June 2020, went on trial on May 22. He rejects all charges as politically motivated.
June 29, 2023
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
MINSK -- The prosecutor in a high-profile trial in Minsk has asked a court to convict and sentence to 10 years in prison Eduard Babaryka, the son of former would-be Belarusian presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2021.
Eduard Babaryka was a member of his father's election campaign staff when the two were arrested two months before the August 2020 presidential vote and Viktar Babaryka was unable to officially register as a presidential candidate.
Vyasna (Spring) human rights group says Prosecutor Alyaksandr Karol on June 28 asked the Minsk regional court to find Eduard Babaryka guilty of all charges, including tax evasion, money laundering, assisting in the organizing of mass disorder, and inciting hatred, adding that the defendant must be handed a 10-year prison term.
Judge Uladzimer Areshka is expected to pronounce the verdict and sentence on July 5, Vyasna said.
Eduard Babaryka, who along with his father was arrested in June 2020, went on trial on May 22. He rejects all charges as politically motivated.
June 29, 2023
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
MINSK -- The prosecutor in a high-profile trial in Minsk has asked a court to convict and sentence to 10 years in prison Eduard Babaryka, the son of former would-be Belarusian presidential candidate Viktar Babaryka, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2021.
Eduard Babaryka was a member of his father's election campaign staff when the two were arrested two months before the August 2020 presidential vote and Viktar Babaryka was unable to officially register as a presidential candidate.
Vyasna (Spring) human rights group says Prosecutor Alyaksandr Karol on June 28 asked the Minsk regional court to find Eduard Babaryka guilty of all charges, including tax evasion, money laundering, assisting in the organizing of mass disorder, and inciting hatred, adding that the defendant must be handed a 10-year prison term.
Judge Uladzimer Areshka is expected to pronounce the verdict and sentence on July 5, Vyasna said.
Eduard Babaryka, who along with his father was arrested in June 2020, went on trial on May 22. He rejects all charges as politically motivated.
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In July 2021, the 59-year-old Viktar Babaryka, the former head of the Russian-owned Belgazprombank, was sentenced to 14 years in prison on charges of bribe-taking and money laundering that he and his supporters have called political retribution for challenging authoritarian ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka.
Last month, Telegram channel Rabochy Rukh (Labor Movement) cited sources as saying Viktar Babaryka was rushed from a penal colony to a hospital in the northern city of Navapolatsk with a collapsed lung and signs of multiple beatings. His exact whereabouts have not been known since late April.
Lukashenka was declared the victor of the August 2020 election, triggering protests by tens of thousands of Belarusians who say the balloting was rigged. The demonstrations lasted for months as Belarusians demanded Lukashenka, in power since 1994, step down and hold fresh elections.
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At Lukashenka's direction, security officials cracked down hard on demonstrators, arresting thousands and pushing most leading opposition figures out of the country.
Several protesters were killed in the violence, and rights organizations say there is credible evidence of torture being used against some of those detained.
Lukashenka denies voter fraud and has refused to negotiate with the opposition led by Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who supporters say actually won the August 2020 election.
The European Union, United States, Canada, and other countries have refused to recognize Lukashenka, 68, as the legitimate leader of Belarus and have slapped him and senior Belarusian officials with sanctions in response to the "falsification" of the vote and postelection crackdown.
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