Aleh Kardash

sentenced to 1 1/2 years of imprisonment

Prisoner

Date of birth: 1 February 1976

Date of detention: 20 May 2023

Charges indicted:

  • Art. 341 of the Criminal Code — Desecration of structures and damage to property
  • Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus

Sentence: 1 1/2 years

Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony

Judge: Aksana Litvinchyk

Prosecutor: Vadzim Karachun

Cases: Protests in Baranavičy

Aleh Kardash worked as a locksmith in Baranavičy (Brest Region)б went to work in Europe, sympathized with the August 2020 protests, and served more than a month in a temporary detention center under administrative charges. He was accused of 'contempt of the president of Belarus' under Part 1 of Article 368 and 'desecration of buildings and damage to property' under Article 341 of the Criminal Code.

The local official newspaper reported Kardash to have been tried for graffiti on the walls at the entrance of a multi-story building that he made in February 2023. The inscriptions contained insults against Lukashenka. Thus, his actions were qualified under two criminal articles at once.

The Viasna branch in Brest found out that Kardash was first arrested in March 2023. He was tried three times under administrative articles and each time he was sentenced to administrative arrest.

On July 6, 2023, the Baranavičy District Court sentenced Aleh Kardash to 18 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. The case was considered by Judge Aksana Litvinchyk, with Vadzim Karachun as the state prosecutor.

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