Aleksandr Gedzhadze
Russian national, sentenced to 3 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 10 February 1986
Date of detention: 27 October 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
Judge: Andrei Mlechka
Prosecutor: Valeryia Taratynka
Aleksandr Gedzhadze is a citizen of Russia.
He was detained on October 27, 2020, and later charged under Part 1 of Article 342 of the Criminal Code (organization of group actions which gravely breach public order).
Gedzhadze faced charges after he allegedly transported tires in a carsharing car, which were later used to set up barricades on the road in a Minsk residential complex. The incident happened on the evening of October 12.
On April 20, 2021, Judge Andrei Mlechka of the Frunzienski District Court of Minsk sentenced Aleksandr Gedzhadze to three years in a general-security penal colony.
In January, the Moscow Municipal Court ruled to transfer Gedzhadze to a Russian colony. According to human rights activists, Aleksandr is already in Russian penal colony No. 3 in Safonovo. This is the first Russian citizen, recognized by Belarusian human rights activists as a political prisoner, who has been transferred to Russia.
