Patriotic graffiti case trial takes place in Minsk

Vadzim Zharomski, Viachaslau Kasinerau, and Maksim Piakarski

Vadzim Zharomski, Viachaslau Kasinerau, and Maksim Piakarski are answering charges over Belarusian-language graffiti.

The trial of three young men who were arrested over Belarusian-language graffiti last summer began in the Frunzenski District Court in Minsk on January 25. Judge Ala Skuratovich is presiding over the trial.

As naviny.by recall, Vadzim Zharomski, Viachaslau Kasinerau and Maksim Piakarski, as well as Yaraslau Ulianenkau were arrested in August 2015 over graffiti on a concrete fence depicting the swastika and the Soviet hammer-and-sickle emblem in red circles with crosses through and a diamond-shaped piece of Belarus' traditional ornament between them. The image also featured a message that said in Belarusian, «Belarus Must Be Belarusian.»

The young men were also suspected of painting another piece of street art on the fence around a former military base that depicts a person hurling a Molotov cocktail and involves a Belarusian-language message, «Revolution of Consciousness is Already Underway.»

In addition, they allegedly daubed paint on an image of police officers on a billboard on Haretskaha Street in Minsk.

Piakarski, Zharomski and Kasinerau were charged and released on their own recognizance at the end of August. Kasinerau was hospitalized with a double jaw fracture sustained after the arrest and was not taken into custody.

Ulianenkau was released on his own recognizance shortly after the arrest and later had the criminal case against him closed.

Human rights defenders have described the case as politically motivated.