Trial of son of opposition leader Babariko begins in Belarus
On Monday, May 22, the Minsk Regional Court opened a trial in the case of Eduard Babariko, the son of former Belarusian presidential candidate Viktor Babariko. Eduard was the leader of his father’s initiative group when he unsuccessfully tried to register as a presidential candidate.
Eduard Babariko is accused under four articles of the Belarusian Criminal Code at once – with organizing mass riots, evading taxes and fees, legalizing criminal proceeds, as well as inciting hatred or discord. Human rights activists consider these accusations to be politically motivated and a means of putting pressure on Babariko Sr.
The whereabouts of Babariko’s father are unknown.
Babariko’s father and son were arrested on June 18, 2020. In July 2021, Viktor Babariko was sentenced to 14 years in prison. The court found him guilty of accepting large-scale bribes and laundering the proceeds of the crime.
Eduard had been held without trial for nearly three years. Nothing is known about the fate of Viktar Babaryka himself a month ago. Earlier it was reported that on the night of April 24 to 25, he was taken from the Novopolotsk pre-trial detention center to the hospital.
On 12 May, human rights activists reported that Babariko’s father was no longer assigned to his detachment in Novopolotsk colony, and subsequently that he was apparently transferred to the prison hospital at SIZO-1 in Minsk. Neither lawyers nor relatives were able to see Viktor Babariko.
Source: DW
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