Belarusian Ex-Presidential candidate sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment

Aleksandr Kazulin was found guilty today of “hooliganism” and organizing mass disturbances during an opposition demonstration on 25 March in Minsk.

He was sentenced to five and a half years imprisonment. Mr Kazulin did not himself hear the verdict – the judge had him removed from the courtroom after the defendant publicly called the judge an executioner.

Yesterday Aleksandr Kazulin was deprived of the chance to give his final statement.

In the courtroom, Aleksandr Kazulin also stated that throughout the day he was held in a cell with an area of one square metre, and was not even given water despite the 33-degree heatwave.

Kazulin’s lawyer, Igor Rinkevich has stated that the court ruling will be appealed since it is a political, not a legal verdict.