Watchdog

MINSK -- The Belarusian prosecutor at the Minsk trial of two Russian citizens accused of taking part in "mass unrest" in December has asked the judge to fine each defendant some $6,000, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reports.

The prosecutor insisted on March 10 that although Artyom Breus and Ivan Gaponov pleaded not guilty to the charge, their guilt was proven by the testimony of witnesses and victims in the case.

But RFE/RL reports that several Belarusian policemen -- considered by the court to be victims beaten by demonstrators on December 19 during postelection protests -- did not identify the two defendants as their attackers during testimony at the trial earlier on March 10.

Gaponov and Breus were arrested along with hundreds of Belarusian opposition activists who gathered with thousands of others in central Minsk to protest the official results of the presidential election, which declared incumbent President Alyaksandr Lukashenka the runaway winner.

Several opposition presidential candidates were also arrested and jailed. Many activists and some of the candidates were also beaten.

Breus and Gaponov were released on December 29 but rearrested the same day and officially charged with participation in "mass unrest."

The Russian Embassy in Minsk said last month that Belarusian secret services "exerted pressure" on Breus and Gaponov during their investigation of their cases.

A total of 42 men and women have been officially charged with organizing and/or participating in the "mass unrest in Minsk on December 19." They include five opposition presidential candidates, two of whom are still jailed.

Opposition activist Vasil Parfyankou was found guilty in February of participation in the "mass unrest" and sentenced to four years in jail.

Read more in Belarusian here

The son of a human rights activist has been found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 months in jail in the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia, RFE/RL's Echo of the Caucasus reports.

Dmitry Kaloev, 29, is the son of well-known activist and journalist Fatima Margieva. He was arrested in South Ossetia in March 2010 after his friend, Vyacheslav Bichenov, died of a drug overdose. He has been held in detention since then.

Investigators insisted in the trial that concluded on March 9 that Kaloev and Bichenov had used heroin and Kaloev is responsible for his friend's death.

Kaloev pleaded not guilty and said he never used drugs.

Margieva told RFE/RL the case against her son is politically motivated and connected to her professional activities. Margieva has written several articles critical of the de facto government in South Ossetia.

Last year, Margieva was found guilty of possessing illegal weapons, ammuniton, and explosives and given a two-year suspended prison sentence.

Margieva told RFE/RL her son has spent one year in jail already and is due to be released at the end of June.