October 23 representative of the Human Rights Centre "Viasna" Tatiana Ravyaka attended the announcement of the operative part of the judgment on the consideration of the appeal of the founder of the human rights organization "Innovation Platform" Michael Zhamchuzhny.

As expected, the cassation to the Supreme Court took place behind closed doors – due to the presence of classified information in the case file. However, a representative of the Armed Forces had previously reported human rights activists about the likely possibility of the presence of the public and the media on the announcement of the operative part of the judgment.

As noted by Tatiana Ravyaka, she was the only member of the public, who took advantage of this opportunity.

According to human rights activist, the presiding judge Michael Kashko, which was read by the operative part, called extended by six months sentence for Michael Zhamchuzhny – 6 years and 6 months (the public prosecutor demanded 7 years), but did not mention motivation, saying that the convicted will be sent a written decision of the court.

"Michael was a Zhamchuzhny in a cage, it was guarded by four police officers. I realized that he recognized me, because said hello. He looks cheerful, fit. When we were in the hall waiting for the judge, he said he would continue to deal with the protection of prisoners' rights," – said Tatiana Ravyaka.

She also noted that the judge reminded the convict the right to meet with close relatives, to which Michael Zhamchuzhny said he did not have any, and asked for a meeting with a close friend. The judge replied that it was not required by law.

As for the essence of the court, then, according to Tatiana Ravyaka, it does not clear up. "We still hope that we can get information about the essence of Michael Zhamchuzhny, to find out is whether the information that he was trying to get, the public interest and relates to whether the protection of the rights of prisoners," – she explained.

In the near future, the Human Rights Center "Viasna" intends to submit to the Supreme Court a request for information in the case of Michael Zhamchuzhny, as his sentence came into force.

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