9000 copies of the Occasional President to be confiscated in favor of the state

19.04.2005.

Nine thousand copies of the book Occasional President will be confiscated in favor of the state, said Radio Liberty. This was the ruling passed by Vitsebsk Regional Economic Court that had finished considering the case of the businessman Barys Elkin who had transported these books in his own car from Smolensk and was detained by the traffic police on route.
A month ago the economic court considered the police claims that the transportation papers did not indicate the correct number of the copies of the book. After these claims were refuted by Barys Elkin and his legal consultant Hary Pahaniaila, the court case was closed.
On 18 April the court spent the whole day hearing the case against the Vitsebsk businessman Barys Elkin. The proceedings were initiated by the Vitsebsk District Department for Combating Economic Crime. In essence, the accusations voiced by the department head Viktar Prakapovich were based on the businessman’s alleged violation of the Convention on international transportation of freight, because the transportation papers did not meet required standards. According to Mr. Elkin, it is very indicative that during the detention on 8 October last year the police did not notices any discrepancies in the documents.
Nonetheless, the economic court chaired by Judge Ludmila Ivanova found Barys Elkin guilty of the law, ruling that the books be confiscated. The representative of the Vitsebsk District Department refused to say whether these books would be sold freely just like other confiscated goods.