Aliaksandr Sumar
sentenced to 9 years in enhanced security penal colony
Date of birth: 7 March 1982
Date of detention: 27 July 2022
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. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code — Creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it
Art. 367 of the Criminal Code — Slander against the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 9 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Vera Filonik
Prosecutor: Aliaksandr Bohush
Prison: Penal colony No. 3
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Aliaksandr Sumar was detained on July 27, 2022, and placed in custody in remand prison #7 in Brest. It is known that in 2006, Sumar worked as a forensic expert at the district police department in Luniniec, Brest region.
Sumar was convicted under five articles of the Criminal Code:
- Part 1 of Art. 361-1 ('Leading an extremist formation')
- Part 1 of Art. 342 ('Training persons to participate in group actions grossly breaching public order')
- Part 2 of Art. 367 ('Defamation against the president of Belarus')
- Art. 369 ('Insulting a a government official')
- and Part 3 of Art. 361 ('Calls for sanctions and other actions aimed at harming national security of Belarus on the media or Internet')
On February 9, 2023, the Brest Regional Court found Aliaksandr Sumar guilty under all of the above articles of the Criminal Code. Judge Vera Filonik sentenced him to nine years of imprisonment in an enhanced security penal colony. The case was tried behind closed doors. Prosecutor Aliaksandr Bohush supported the state accusation.
