Aliaksandr Antaniuk

former investigator; sentenced to 1 1/2 years; released after serving full sentence

Former prisoner

Date of birth: 11 November 1992

Date of detention: 2 November 2021

Charges indicted:

  • Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them

Sentence: 1 1/2 years

Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony

Date of release: 28 January 2023

Judge: Maryna Skalkovich

Groups: Law enforcement officers

Cases: The round dance case

Aliaksandr Antaniuk was arrested on November 2, 2021, in a criminal case for group actions grossly violating public order (Article 342 of the Criminal Code) for his participation in a protest on September 13, 2020, in Brest which is known as the “dance protest”.

Until July 2020, he worked as a criminal investigator. The reasons for his dismissal are unknown.

On March 16, 2022, Judge of the court of Maskouski district of Brest Maryna Skalkovich sentenced two more persons involved in the “dance protest” case. According to the prosecution, Antaniuk is presented on the footage from the protest as a man wearing sunglasses and a mask. The prosecutor presented to the court the conclusion of the forensic-portrait examination of the pictures taken at the protest on September 13, 2020. However, the experts concluded that with a probability of only 16.5% it could be said that it was Aliaksandr Antaniuk.

Aliaksandr Antaniuk was sentenced to 18 months in a general-regime penal colony.

In late May 2022, it became known that Antaniuk was transferred to penal colony #3 (in Vićba, Viciebsk region).

The political prisoner served his full sentence and was released on January 28, 2023.

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