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On November 17, the Gomel Regional Court completed the judicial investigation into the criminal case of the defendant, 24-year-old French citizen Yolan Viaud.
He lives and works in London and loves to travel – to get to know different countries, cultures and people. After visiting nine countries, Zoran stayed in Belarus longer than he had planned – because of his patron, he had a misunderstanding at the border. The guy was convinced, and tried to convey this to the Belarusian authorities, that the small metal thing was a souvenir. But the inspection concluded that it was a cartridge, and a combat-usable one at that.
As a result, the Frenchman was detained in the Gomel Third Pre-Trial Detention Center for two months.
The trial began on November 15 at the Gomel Regional Court. Yoran Viaud himself was questioned, as were some employees of the Novoguta checkpoint where the French were detained. On the first day of the trial, the small auditorium of the Regional Court could not accommodate all those who wanted to attend the trial, so the trial was moved to a more spacious Regional Court.
On November 17, the court reviewed the recording of a personal video recorder, which became a technical witness during the border confrontation. As Zhuolan had previously demonstrated, the commemorative cartridge was actually declared by him, that is, he asked the customs officer whether the item was contraband?
Due to the language barrier, misunderstandings occurred. In the recording, the Frenchman can be seen and heard asking the customs officer whether the bullet was a prohibited item. The customs officer then asked: “Crossbow, what crossbow?” and offered to show the object. Zoran took out the cartridge, a souvenir given to him by his friend Pavel from Warsaw. And everything began to change…
The employee takes “Bullet-shaped object”and go with him to find his superior. “Nikolaevich, Nikolaevich, have you seen Nikolaevich?” —The video recorder impartially recorded how the customs officer opened one door, then another, and asked his colleagues about Nikolayevich.
It turned out that it was impossible to go around the checkpoints with bullets in search of Nikolayevich. “Why don’t you just leave it there?” – The boss asked.
He also asked his subordinates where the Frenchman was. The customs officer replied that he was in the “green” corridor, even though it was stated several times throughout the trial that Zoran was inspected through the “red” corridor. The boss can be heard in the video correcting the customs officer: “This is the Red Corridor!” Next came protocol, inspections, searches and detention centres.
On November 17, witnesses were questioned in court – insurance agents working at the checkpoint and witnesses when the agreement was drafted. The lawyers subsequently criticized their testimonies.
Thus, the girls say that the procedural action lasted about 15-20 minutes, but the protocol shows about an hour. The translator was a customs officer – and, by the way, a person of interest. By law, the translator must come from outside. The insurance agent also stated that the cartridges were in a transparent bag, but earlier, during interrogation during the investigation, they stated that the bag was made of paper. Witnesses Maria Braque She said she signed the agreement without reading it.
At the trial, it turned out that information about border crossing procedures was on the stand, but only in Russian. It is not easy for foreigners who are not familiar with Belarusian border procedures to understand where and how to go to the “red” or “green” corridor; if their English proficiency is low, they need to clarify the nuances with customs officials; insufficient is not an easy task either.
As a result, all these “human factors”, including the young Frenchman’s gullibility in accepting a cartridge as a gift and not checking whether it was really a souvenir, led to Joran’s eventual imprisonment.
The prosecution was supported in court by representatives of the Transportation Attorney’s Office Olga LashchenkoShe said the evidence gathered in the case — examinations, acts, agreements, witnesses and physical evidence — proved French guilty.
State prosecutors said Zoran Vio, ‘With intention’ Cartridges were purchased from unidentified persons at an unknown location. “Continuing criminal intent” He stored and transported the cartridges. Lashchenko said the defendant intended to deliver the ammunition to the border of the Customs Union.
A representative of the prosecutor’s office also agreed that the customs officials’ work was flawed. She asked the court to exclude the “illegal acquisition” part of the charge under Article 295 of the Criminal Code and to define the qualification under Article 333-1 of the Criminal Code as “movement across the customs border of the Eurasian Economic Union.”
The prosecutor added that the defendant was remorseful, had good characteristics, his testimony was consistent, therefore the prosecution considered it unnecessary to deprive the foreigner of his liberty, and a large fine (under two provisions – 300 basic units (6,900 rubles)) was a sufficient punishment for him.
lawyer Dmitry Petkevich Criticized the investigation, customs officials and representatives of the prosecutor’s office. He believed that there was no main element to convict Zoran Viaud – direct intent. The defense lawyer recalled that the examination found the Frenchman to be sane.
“It’s ridiculous — a grown man who traveled the world, acquired a cartridge, and actually wanted to move it across the border, and he showed it to the customs officer himself,” – Dmitry Petkevich noted.
According to him, there is no evidence that Zoran Vio knew that the cartridges were live. “The investigation did not take steps, such as finding out the truth and interrogating Pavel, who handed the cartridge to Zoran. (A young man attending the handover ceremony of the memorial box in Warsaw – Editor) There are pages on social networks, you can find them if you want. The investigation did not take any forensic measures, for example, not even requesting recordings from personal recorders, and it was only conducted in court, on the court’s own initiative.” ——The lawyer emphasized.
He noted that there was no translator during the initial investigation, that role was performed by customs officials and that by law the translator had to be a disinterested person.
The lawyer reminded that all doubts should be interpreted in favor of the defendant: “There were serious violations of procedural law. For example, according to the protocol. It took about an hour to complete, but witnesses said it took 10-20 minutes. In addition, witnesses testified that no photos were taken, but it happened.”
“The procedure for drawing up the agreement was violated. With respect to these violations, the agreement cannot be admitted into evidence and form the basis of the indictment,” – said Dmitry Petkevich.
“There is no intention, no evidence, and the qualification criteria of ‘illegal acquisition, illegal transfer’ are unjustified.” The time, method and place of acquisition are not indicated. The attached version has not been verified by the investigation. Regarding the illegality of cross-border movement, the prosecutor dropped the wording “across state borders” and only left “across the borders of the Eurasian Economic Union”, but these borders coincide. – The defense attorney pointed out in his speech.
“How long can you trample on the rights of foreign citizens? I think he should be put in prison only in the name of the revolution, but fortunately we should be tried in the name of Belarus.” – Dmitry Petkevich added.
He believes that two months in pre-trial detention were enough for his client to understand that he needs to choose his friends more carefully and study the laws of the country he wants to go to. The lawyer also believes that an acquittal will increase Belarus’s authority in the eyes of European society. The French citizen’s defense lawyer asked the court to acquit Jolan Viaud. As a last resort, he should be subject to Article 70 of the Criminal Code, which provides for a lighter sentence than the crime.
Judge Tamara Zastavnetskaya The final decision and possible sentencing was postponed until November 20. Zholan will spend another weekend at 1a Knizhnaya Street, the address of the pretrial detention center.
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