Andrei Herasimovich
sentenced to 2 1/2 years of imprisonment
Former prisoner
Date of birth: 16 March 2000
Date of detention: 18 June 2021
Charges indicted:
- Art. 342 of the Criminal Code — Organization and preparation of actions that grossly violate public order, or active participation in them
- Art. 364 of the Criminal Code — Violence or threat of violence against an employee of the internal affairs bodies
Sentence: 2 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 8 November 2023
Judge: Uladzimir Fedarovich
Prosecutor: Artsiom Rouba
Cases: Protests in Hrodna
Groups: Students
Andrei Herasimovich is from Hrodna. He is a student of the Yanka Kupala State University of Hrodna.
Herasimovich was charged under Article 364 ('Violence against police officers') and Article 342 ('Group actions grossly disrupting public order') of the Criminal Code. According to the accusation, during the 2020 protests, Herasimovich and four other people, together with other persons, threw pieces of paving tiles and other objects at the police cars. Andrei Herasimovich pleaded partially guilty.
On 18 June 2021, he was sentenced to two years and six months of imprisonment in a general-security penal colony and taken into custody in the courtroom.
According to the information of human rights defenders, the administration of penal colony #2 (Babrujsk, Mahilioŭ region) placed the political prisoner in a punishment cell from approximately mid-April 2023. The reasons for the punishment are unknown, but many reports against Herasimovich were filed. It is reported that they can keep Andrei Herasimovich in the punishment cell for up to 100 days. Besides, he was warned that his sentence may be "prolonged" through a new criminal case.
