3 months for draft evasion
A youth opposition activist Mikita Sasim has been handed a three month jail sentence for draft evasion.
First of all, virtually no one goes to jail in Belarus for draft evasion. This is exceptional. Second, last autumn he had been granted a deferral from the army doctors because of brain injuries which he sustained after being brutally beaten by the Belarusian police during the break-up of a peaceful protest rally on September 16, 2005.
It’s absolutely clear that Mikita Sasim’s arrest is politically motivated. “Amnesty International” said that Mikita Sasim is to be recognized a prisoner of conscience and called on Lukashenka to release the young man.
May 13th, 2006 at 7:05 pm
I studied with him for some months. He was expeled from Belarusian lycée due to poor study progress.
May 13th, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Yahor: are you saying that his not that bright? But, anyway, is it really relevant in the context of this court case?
May 14th, 2006 at 8:03 am
No. This is just an interesting fact.
Nevertheless, he had to care about the background.
May 14th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Small world it is, to have someone to visit blog that met this person :) I do see nobody gets a fair trial any more, and are just directly sent to jail. I dont see any other way to explain why the expert opinion of army doctors about his medical status was ignored.