Aksana Novikava Fined 2 100 000 Rubles for Questions to President

18.09.2003.

On 18 September Alena Tserashkova, Judge of Minsk Leninski Borough Court, fined resident Aksana Novikava 2 100 000 rubles (more than $100) for violation of the order of picketing (part 2 of Article No. 167-1 of the Code of Administrative Violations). A. Novikava said to BelaPAN that in the morning on 18 September she was detained with the poster “For What Have You Given 360 Million Dollars to “Gazprom”?” near the Presidential residence and taken first to a police station and then to court.

A. Novikava pointed out that “at the press conference on 16 September A. Lukashenka admitted giving facilities to the Russian enterprise “Gazprom”, the general sum of which is 360 million dollars. Taking into account that for transit of the Russian gas through its territory Belarus will receive only 120 million dollars, one can question whether our country has a wise economy.”

We should remind that in April 2003 Aksana Novikava was sentenced to 2 years of conditional imprisonment with two years of probation for defamation of President Lukashenka.