Andrei Padniabenny
sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment
Date of birth: 13 December 1988
Date of detention: 5 November 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 218 of the Criminal Code — Intentional destruction or damage to property committed in a generally dangerous manner or causing damage on a large scale
Art. 369 of the Criminal Code — Insulting a government official
Art. 368 of the Criminal Code — Insulting the President of the Republic of Belarus
Art. 361-1 of the Criminal Code — Creation of an extremist formation, or participation in it
Art. 130 of the Criminal Code — Incitement to hatred
Art. 289 of the Criminal Code — An act of terrorism
Art. 361-4 of the Criminal Code — Promoting extremist activities
Sentence: 16 years and 8 month
Penalty: imprisonment in a medium-security penal colony
Judge: Anatol Sotnikau, Ruslan Tsaruk
Prison: Penal colony No. 15
Statement on the status of a political prisoner
Godparent: Annette Widmann-Mauz, Member of the German Bundestag
Andrei Padniabenny is a Russian citizen but has been living in Belarus since he was six years old and has a residence permit. Andrei was indicted behind closed doors under a number of serious articles of the Criminal Code of Belarus: Part 1 of Article 14 and Part 3 of Article 218 (attempt to deliberate destruction or damage to property of others); Part 1 of Article 361-1 (creation of an extremist group), Part 1 and Part 2 of Article 289 (an act of terrorism) for setting fire to the car of the head of the Department of Corrections, puncturing the tires of 39 trolleybuses, creating and administering a Telegram channel and a Telegram chat, which are recognized as extremist formations, as well as setting fire to a crane at a construction site in 2019. Judge Anatol Sotnikau sentenced Andrei, who has been in custody for seven months, to 15 years in a medium-security penal colony.
Andrei Padniabenny sentenced to 15 years in jail under ‘terrorist’ article
