Andrei Valasach
sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 30 October 1969
Date of detention: 18 February 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 361 of the Criminal Code — Calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 391 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a judge
Sentence: 6 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Judge: Sviatlana Bandarenka
Prison: Pre-trial detention center No. 3
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Andrei Valasach was arrested on February 18, 2022, as a defendant in a criminal case for insulting a government official on the Punishers of Belarus Telegram channel. He was charged under Article 369 of the Criminal Code ('Contempt of a public official'). Later it became known that he was also charged under Part 1 of Article 368 ('Contempt of the president of Belarus'), Part 3 of Article 361 ('Creating an extremist organization'), Part 1 of Article 130 ('Inciting hatred or enmity'), and Article 391 ('Contempt of a judge') of the Criminal Code. All those accusations related to his comments on various Telegram channels.
It is known that Andrei Valasach was detained in the pre-trial detention center in Mahilioŭ until the end of spring. Later he was transferred to remand prison #8 in Žodzina, Minsk region. During his detention in the Mahilioŭ, Valasach was repeatedly severely beaten: he even needed medical assistance and underwent MRI scanning.
On December 19, 2022, the Minsk City Court convicted the 53-year-old political prisoner. Judge Sviatlana Bandarenka found Andrei Valasach guilty and sentenced him to six years of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony, a fine of 12,800 Belarusian rubles (approx. $ 4,484), and compensation of 43,500 Belarusian rubles (approx. $ 15,237) for 31 "victims".
On March 10, 2023, the Supreme Court considered the appeal against the verdict.
In late March 2023, the KGB included the political prisoner in the "list of terrorists".
