Aliaksandar Sidarenka
sentenced to 8 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 4 April 1991
Date of detention: 17 November 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Art. 361 of the Criminal Code — Calls for actions aimed at causing harm to the national security of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 218 of the Criminal Code — Intentional destruction or damage to property committed in a generally dangerous manner or causing damage on a large scale
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 290-4 of the Criminal Code — Establishing or participating in an organization for the purpose of terrorist activity
Art. 359 of the Criminal Code — Terrorist act against a state official or public figure
Sentence: 8 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 15 March 2023
Judge: Anastasiya Papko
Prosecutor: Yuliya Laneuskaya
Prison: Penal colony No. 22
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Aliaksandar Sidarenka is a defendant in the high-profile Flying Storks case. Judge Anastasiya Papko sentenced him to eight years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony.
Other defendants in this case were Aliaksei Ivanisau, Aliaksei Hameza, Mikalai Biblis, Aliaksandr Murauyou, and Andrei Budai.
Depending on the role of each of them they were charged in different permutations with:
- participation in actions that grossly violate the public order (part 1 of article 342 of the CC)
- participation in a terrorist organization (part 2 of article 290-4 of the CC)
- act of terrorism against a state official (part 1 of article 359 of the CC)
- intentional damage to property (part 1 of article 218 of the CC)
- incitement of hatreed (part 3 of article 130 of the CC)
- calls for sanctions (part 3 of article 361 of the CC)
On November 30, 2021, the Supreme Court declared the association Supraciŭ (Bel. ‘Resistance’) and its subdivisions including Busly liaciać (bel. ‘Flying Storks’) initiative terrorist.
