Aliaksandra Rybchyk
sentenced to 2 1/2 years of imprisonment
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 16 June 1993
Date of detention: 26 October 2022
Charges indicted:
- Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
Sentence: 2 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 20 August 2024
Judge: Aliaksandr Supichenka
Cases: Protests in Minsk
Aliaksandra Rybchyk is a manager at the Trans Solutions logistics company. First, she was sentenced to 14 days of administrative arrest, and then she was re-arrested under a criminal case.
The reason for the arrest was photos on Tinder of her standing on the roadway with a white-red-white flag during one of the protest marches in 2020. One of the pro-government Telegram channels published a post about the arrest. In the 'penitential' video, Aliaksandra Rybchyk confirms her participation in the protests. First, they placed her in a temporary detention center. Later, a criminal case was opened against her under Article 342 of the Criminal Code ('Active participation in group actions grossly disrupting public order').
On February 4, 2023, the Partyzansk District Court of Minsk issued a verdict in her case. According to human rights defenders, judge Aliaksandr Supichenka sentenced the police prisoner to two years and six months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
The hearing of the appeal against the sentence is scheduled for April 21, 2023, in the Minsk City Court.
