Aliaksandr Kandratsiuk
sentenced to 3 1/2 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 16 October 1981
Date of detention: 5 September 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Sentence: 3 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 11 July 2023
Judge: Anzhela Kastsiukevich
Prosecutor: Dalidovich
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Marian Hussein, Member of the Norwegian Parliament
Aliaksandr Kandratsiuk is a junior researcher at the Institute of Genetics and Cytology of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. He was arrested on September 5, 2022. First, the Pieršamajski District Court of Minsk ruled to arrest him for 13 days, and then he was re-arrested under Article 130 of the Criminal Code ('Incitement to social enmity or hatred'). After that, he was also accused under Article 368 ('Contempt of the President of Belarus') and Article 369 ('Contempt of a public official') of the Criminal Code.
It is known that the charges under Article 368 ('Contempt of the President of Belarus') stemmed from seven episodes.
On May 17, 2023, the Minsk City Court found Kandratsiuk guilty and sentenced him to three years and six months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony. Judge Anzhela Kastsiukevich tried his case, with Dalidovich as the prosecutor.
