BELARUSIAN PROTESTERS RECEIVE FINES, JAIL TERMS

A Minsk district court on 22 July sentenced 15 participants in the 21 July rally marking the 10th anniversary of President Alyaksandr Lukashenka's rule to jail terms of three to 15 days, Belapan reported. The police detained some 50 protesters at Yakub Kolas Square, where the organizers initially planned to hold the demonstration but failed to obtain permission. The younger and older demonstrators were released, while 26 detainees spent the night in jail and appeared in court the next day. Dzmitry Bandarenka, coordinator of Charter-97, was sentenced to 15 days in jail; Yauhen Afnahel and Pavel Yukhnevich of the youth organization Zubr, Aleh Korban of the Belarusian Popular Front, and others were sentenced to 10 days. Other detainees received shorter sentences and fines, while others received warnings.