Artsiom Zubrakou

sentenced to 5 years imprisonment

Prisoner

Date of birth: 9 November 1990

Date of detention: 29 September 2022

Charges indicted:

  • Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
  • Art. 203-1 of the Criminal Code — Illegal actions with respect to information about private life and personal data

Sentence: 5 years

Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony

Judge: Alena Bachyshcha

Cases: Protests in Minsk

Godparent: Benedetto Della Vedova, Member of the Italian Parliament

Artsiom Zubrakou is an employee of the Belagro holding who was arrested in late September 2022 together with his colleagues. Criminal cases were opened against four of them, and about 20 of them were detained. Pro-government sources reported the company's employees to have been actively protesting since 2020. During the search in the fall of 2022, white-red-white accessories and furniture were seized.

On January 27, 2023, Artsiom Zubrakou was sentenced to five years imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. He was found guilty under Part 3 of Article 130 ('Inciting racial, national, religious or other social hatred or enmity') and Part 3 of Article 203-1 ('Illegal actions regarding privacy information and personal data') of the Criminal Code. Judge Alena Bachyshcha tried the case in the Minsk Regional Court, behind closed doors.

On April 4, 2023, the Supreme Court heard an appeal against the verdict. Artsiom Zubrakou was transferred from remand prison #1 in Minsk to prison #4 in Mahilioŭ.

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