On July 11, the Hłybokaje court ended the examination of the criminal case on illegal migration, in which UK citizen Alan Smith and two Belarusian citizens were accused. The judge re-qualified the accusation against the Englishman from part 2 of Article 371¹ of the Criminal Code to a softer part 1 and sentenced him to two years in prison under conditions of a general regime.
The actions of Belarusian citizens were recognized as a crime in accordance with part 2 of the said article. Verdict against them: Arseniy Rachkovski – 3 years 7 months, strict regime; Olga Grokhovskaya – 3 years 1 month, general regime.
Part 1 of Article 371¹ of the Criminal Code provides for the responsibility for organizing illegal migration, Part 2 – responsibility for the same actions, if they, among other things, committed by a group of persons by prior agreement.
The verdict caused resentful Alan Smith. He stated in the courtroom that this verdict was unfair and illegal, and he would appeal against it. A British citizen said that his rights were repeatedly violated, and that he was not guilty of anything. The defense party reported that it also believes that there are very strong grounds for filing an appeal.
In turn, the representative of the prosecutor's office expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict of the court and said that he did not exclude the possibility of bringing an appeal against the softness of the punishment imposed by the accused. Earlier, the prosecutor asked 6 years in prison for Alan Smith, and for 5 years – for Rachkovski and Grokhovskaya.
We asked for a comment on Michael Polak, a lawyer from England, who is well acquainted with the case.
"A number of violations were committed in the case. So, Mr. Smith was forced to sign documents in Russian, which he does not understand. The consulate was not "immediately" informed of his detention, which is contrary to Belarus' obligations to the UK in accordance with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963. Important witnesses were given the opportunity to leave Belarus without giving evidence," said Michael Polak.
Recall, the defendants were arrested at the end of September 2016. The investigation accused them of organizing an attempt of illegal migration to the EU countries of six Iraqi citizens. The Iraqis themselves, detained in the border zone, were deported from Belarus. Investigative bodies informed Alan Smith's relatives about various places where the court should be held: Brasłaŭ, Viciebsk. Eventually, the trial began on May 25 in Hłybokaje.
Kastus Dzvinski, vitebskspring.org
