Aleh Mazhou
Athlete; served full term; released
Date of birth: 9 May 1995
Date of detention: 1 September 2020
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 3 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 13 May 2021
Date of release: 21 January 2023
Judge: Yuliya Shut
Prosecutor: Aliaksandr Ramanovich
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Delara Burkhardt, member of the European Parliament
Aleh Mazhou is an athlete from Minsk.
He was detained on September 1, 2020 in a criminal case on riots, and later charged under Part 2 of Art. 293 of the Criminal Code ('Riots'). The charge was eventually reclassified to Part 1 of Art. 342 of the Criminal Code ('Group actions grossly breaching public order').
Mazhou was held in pre-trial detention center #1 in Minsk. On December 1, 2020, Mazhou was released on bail.
On February 1, the Lieninski District Court of Minsk sentenced Aleh Mazhou to three years of restricted freedom in an open-type penal facility. The convict remained free until the verdict was confirmed by a superior court.
On May 13, 2021, Mazhou was sent to serve his sentence at open-type penitentiaty #21 in Mazyr. According to political prisoners, conditions there are inhuman. In January 2022, the administration refused to admit sick prisoners to hospital.
On April 6, the Mazyr District Court decided to strengthen the regime for Mazhou and transfer him to a penal colony for 9 months and 17 days. The reason for the reinforcement was four “violations of the internal regulations in the penal institution”, e.g. once Mazhou allegedly failed to say hello to the penitentiary employee.
On April 8, 2022, the political prisoner was transferred to remand prison #3 in Homieĺ, and on June 15 he was transferred to penal colony #2.
Aleh Mazhou served his full term and was released on January 21, 2023.
