Artsiom Sokal
sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison
Date of birth: 21 March 1998
Date of detention: 9 September 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 367 of the Criminal Code — Slander against the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 1 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 3 March 2023
Judge: Natallia Budnik
Prosecutor: Vasil Dziashko
Artsiom Sokal was sentenced to one year and six months in a penal colony under Part 1 of Article 367 (slander against the president) and Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code (insulting the president) for distributing a message in a Telegram chat.
Under the charge, on August 20, 2020, Sokal, wishing to harm the authority of the state by spreading deliberately false, untrue fabrications discrediting the president, discrediting his honor and dignity, using a mobile phone posted information in a Telegram chat mimicking a police search bulletin with a photo of Lukashenka containing "ethnic information" regarding him.