Aleh Malchanau
sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 22 March 1970
Date of detention: 4 March 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code — Creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it
Art. 356 of the Criminal Code — High treason
Art. 309 of the Criminal Code — Intentional disrepair of a vehicle or communication lines
Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
Sentence: 21 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 26 April 2023
Judge: Anatol Sotnikau
Prison: Penal colony No. 1
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Nadia Sollogoub, Member of the French Senate
Aleh Malchanau is from Svietlahorsk. He is a former military man; he was engaged in transportation services.
Malchanau was detained on March 4 in Svietlahorsk for setting fire to a relay cabinet at the Žerdź-Astankavičy station on February 28, which made the traffic lights and railroad switches on this section inoperable. The Astankavičy-Žerdź section is on the Žlobin-Kalinkavičy line, which then continues to Ovruch (Zhytomyr Region, Ukraine).
He was charged under several articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus:
- Art. 361-1 ('Participation in an extremist formation')
- Art. 289 ('An act of terrorism committed as part of an organized group, entailing grave consequences, creating a threat of death and causing bodily harm to people');
- parts 2 and 4 of Art. 309 ('Deliberate bringing into disrepair of communication lines, entailing grave consequences and a threat of collapse, accident and death of people');
- Art. 356 ('Treason against the state').
On June 17, 2022, the KGB included Aleh in the 'List of persons involved in terrorist activities'.
The trial of the 'Sivetlahorsk partisans' case began on September 27, 2022, in the Homieĺ Regional Court. The trial was conducted behind closed doors by Judge Anatol Sotnikau.
On December 27, 2022, the verdict was announced: Aleh Malchanau was sentenced to 21 years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.
On March 31, 2023, the Supreme Court considered the appeal and upheld the verdict.
