Ruslan Akostka

sentenced to 4 years in prison

Former prisoner

Date of birth: 17 May 1990

Date of detention: 15 November 2020

Charges indicted:

  • Art. 363 of the Criminal Code — Resistance to a police officer or other person guarding public order
  • Art. 411 — Malicious disobedience to the demands of administration of the correctional institution

Sentence: 4 years

Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony

Date of release: 24 July 2024

Judge: Alesia Seradzenka, Mikhail Zubenia

Prosecutor: Aliaksei Charnyshevich

Ruslan Akostka is a resident of Salihorsk known for walking across the city with a white-red-white flag on November 15. By doing this, he honored the memory of the murdered protester Raman Bandarenka. He was eventually detained by police and placed in remand prison.

Before his arrest, Akostka worked as a security guard for Green supermarket.

On November 16, the Salihorsk District Court sentenced him to 15 days of administrative detention for participating in an unauthorized mass event.

However, Ruslan was never released. Instead, he faced criminal charges for resisting a police officer (Article 363 of the Criminal Code). Akostka allegedly inflicted bodily injuries that did not cause serious consequences or damage to the officer's health.

The trial was held behind closed doors. The defendant pleaded not guilty.

On February 4, 2021, Judge Alesia Seradzenka of the Salihorsk District Court sentenced Akostka to three years of imprisonment in a penal colony. The convict is also expected to pay 2,000 rubles in damages.

On April 26, the sentence was upheld by a court of appeal.

In a penal colony where Ruslan was serving his sentence, a new criminal case under Art. 411 of the Criminal Code (Malicious disobedience to the demands of administration of the correctional institution) was brought against him. The trial was held on March 18 on the prison premises. Judge of Viciebsk District Court Mikhail Zubenia sentenced Akostka to one more year in jail.

He was released on July 24, 2024.

 

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