Aliaksei Ushakou
sentenced to 2 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 10 June 1978
Date of detention: 12 September 2022
Charges indicted:
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Prison sentence start date: 9 February 2023
Judge: Aliaksandr Krauchanka
Prison: Prison No. 4
Aliaksei Ushakou is from Minsk. In September 2020, he was detained for participating in a Sunday protest march and sentenced to 15 days of arrest.
In 2022, he was accused of insulting Lukashenka under Part 1 of Article 368 of the Criminal Code ('Contempt of the president of Belarus'). From September 12, 2022, he was in custody pending trial.
On November 2, 2022, the Čerykaŭ District Court (Mahilioŭ region) found Ushakou guilty of posting several comments in a Telegram chat room on August 30, 2021. The examination showed that he thereby publicly insulted Lukashenka and "deliberately humiliated his honor and dignity in indecent form". Judge Aliaksandr Krauchanka sentenced Ushakou to three years of restricted freedom under home confinemnet. Aliaksei Ushakou was released in the courtroom.
However, the prosecutor of the Čerykaŭ District challenged the verdict. On February 9, 2023, the Mahilioŭ Regional Court considered the appeal against the sentence and issued a new verdict, having sentenced Aliaksei Ushakou to 24 months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony.
