31 October 2007
New criminal charge formally brought against young opposition activist Artur Finkevich

A new criminal charge has been formally brought against young opposition activist Artur Finkevich who is serving a “restricted freedom” term in Mahilyow.

He has been charged with “evasion of service of his sentence” under Article 145 of the Criminal Code for alleged misconduct at the open-type correctional institution where he was held, opposition leader Pavel Sevyarynets told BelaPAN.

If found guilty as charged, Mr. Finkevich, who is currently held in Mahilyow’s pre-trial detention center, may be sentenced to up to three years in prison.

According to Mr. Sevyarynets, Artur’s lawyer, who visited him at the detention center on October 30, said that the date of the trial was yet to be set. The venue of the trial was not known either.

Arrested on January 30, 2006, Mr. Finkevich was sentenced to a two-year "restricted freedom" term in May 2006 on a "malicious hooliganism" charge for spray-painting "We want a new one (instead of Alyaksandr Lukashenka)!" on a building. In June 2007, he was denied a release on parole.

Restricted freedom means that the convict has to live in a sort of barracks, work for a specified enterprise or organization or find a job by himself in a designated area, and report to the barrack administration at an appointed time every day.