Aliaksei Hlotau
case of the “Civil Self-Defense Units of Belarus”
Prisoner
Date of birth: 3 April 1978
Date of detention: 30 June 2021
Charges indicted:
- Art. 295 of the Criminal Code — Unlawful acts against firearms, ammunition and explosives
- Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
- 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: 20 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Siarhei Yepikhau
Prison: Penal colony No. 17
Aliaksei Hlotau was sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony and fined 22,400 Belarusian rubles (approx. $8,900). He was convicted under the following Articles of the Criminal Code:
- part 2 of Article 290-4 (“participation in terrorist organization activity”),
- part 2 of Article 289 (“act of terrorism”),
- part 1 of Article 13 and Article 359 (“preparation for participation in an act of terrorism against a government official or a public figure”), and
- part 1 of Article 14 and part 2 of Article 295, part 4 of Article 295 (“unlawful acts with firearms, ammunition and explosives”).
On October 19, 2022, the Minsk Regional Court began the trial of the case of the "Civil Self-Defense Unit of Belarus", recognized as a terrorist organization in Belarus. Five people were involved in the case: Dzmitryi Sasnouski, Aliaksei Hlotau, Natallia Matsveyeva, Vadzim Hulevich, and Kiryl Ashurak. They were tried under ten articles of the Criminal Code, including terrorism, and charged with three episodes—an attempt to blow up the Russian Navy communications hub in Viliejka (Minsk region), an attempt on the TV propagandist Ryhor Azaronak, and an attempt to destroy logging equipment in forestries.
On December 5, 2022, the verdicts were announced.
On March 10, 2023, Aliaksei Hlotau was included in the 'List of Belarusian citizens, foreign citizens, and stateless persons involved in extremist activities".
