Vasiliy Parfenkov

Activist of Ex-candidate for Presidental post Vladzimir Neklayev’s campaign team Vasiliy Parfenkov during considering the case of Vasiliy Parfenkov accused of committing a crime under Par. 2 Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus – “mass riot”, in Minsk (Republic of Belarus), on Thursday, February 17, 2011. It was a first trial of the participants of the 19 December peaceful post-election protest rally. At the beginning of the trial, the Presidential Administration laid a civil suit, supported by the Administration’s representative. From the outset, the complainant’s representative presented papers on the calculation of damages inflicted by the participants of the rally against state property, estimated at BYR 14,144,000 (4686 $). It should be noted that the prosecuting indictment mentioned an amount of BYR 29 mln (9609 $). The state prosecutor argued that Vasiliy Parfenkov had taken part in the mass riot, hitting the wooden fence for at least 60 times. This was allegedly testified by the videos and other materials of the case. An hour an a half later the judge pronounced her verdict, which found Vasiliy Parfenkov guilty of committing an offence under Par. 2 Art. 293 of the Criminal Code, manifested by participation in mass riots together with uncontrollable crowds and hitting the fence of the Government House. The judge dismissed the charges of armed resistance and arson by Vasiliy Parfenkov. The judge sentenced Vasiliy Parfenkov to four years of imprisonment and fully satisfied the claims for damage recovery. Photo by Sergey Kostin / UNIAN