Aliaksei Kachanau
served full term, released
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 27 August 1990
Date of detention: 30 September 2021
Charges indicted:
- Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
- Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Sentence: 16 months
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 30 September 2021
Date of release: 23 August 2022
Judge: Viachaslau Kaliuka
Cases: The Zeltser case
Aliaksei Kachanau was detained for publishing comments on the Internet in connection with the deaths of IT worker Andrei Zeltser and KGB agent Dzmitry Fedasiuk.
On August 22, 2022, the Homieĺ Regional Court heard the case of the 31-year-old political prisoner. Aliaksei Kachanau was found guilty on two counts — ‘insulting a government official’ and ‘inciting hatred’ (Articles 369 and 130 of the Criminal Code). The trial was held behind closed doors, so no details are known.
As a result, Judge Viachaslau Kaliuka sentenced the political prisoner to 16 months of imprisonment. Kachanau had already served this time in pre-trial detention—he had been behind bars since September 30, 2021—and after the verdict, he was released in the courtroom.
