facebook.com/alla.berezovskaya
Key witnesses on case of the Latvian public rights’ defender Alexander Gaponenko did not bother to come to the court trial in Riga. The witness for the prosecution, Deputy Veiko Spolitis came to the court half an hour after the judge’s call. Expert linguist for the prosecution happened to be on a foreign trip and failed to answer court’s questions. Eventually, the decision was to shift the court hearing to September 21, according to Alla Berezovskaya’s Facebook page.
Gaponenko has stayed in Riga’s prison for 2 months accused of anti-state activities and stirring up national hatred. However, the day before the earlier case was reviewed at the trial. The public defender accused for expressing concerns that American tanks were present in Latvia. Professor entering the session hall of Riga Regional court was met with applauses.
Veiko Spolitis, who was late, confirmed that Professor Gaponenko’s posts were stirring national hatred but failed to support his opinion with facts and answer a simple question of the lawyer about ethnicity of the American tanks calling it nonsense and stupidity.
Today, on June 21, there is another court trial about sentencing Alexander Gaponenko. The trials might have two outcomes – the public defender either would stay in Riga’s prison for other 2 months or would be sentenced to another penalty not related to imprisonment.
Note that professor is facing all the hardships of staying in the Riga’s prison very bravely. Many countries held strikes supporting the Latvian public defender. Several dozens of large cities of Europe and the world joint the demands to set Gaponenko free.
Russkiy Mir
