Andrei Piatrouski
schoolteacher; sentenced to 1 1/2 years in prison; released after serving full sentence
Date of birth: 5 October 1974
Date of detention: 25 August 2021
Charges indicted:
Art. 367 of the Criminal Code — Slander against the President of the Republic of Belarus
Sentence: 1 1/2 years
Penalty: imprisonment in a general-security penal colony
Date of release: 31 January 2023
Judge: Liudmila Mikhnevich
Prosecutor: Andrei Klyshevich
Andrei Piatrouski is a former teacher of history and social studies in a high school in Smarhoń. He was convicted in a criminal case under Part 1 of Art. 367 of the Criminal Code ('Slandering the president of Belarus').
In March of this year, Piatrouski played a video entitled "Constitution Gone Into Prostitution" to eleventh-graders at a social studies lesson. The video bore a logo of a Telegram channel labelled as 'extremist' by the Belarusian authorities. Among the students, there was the son of a local government official, who filmed it on his mobile phone and posted it in a 'family chat'. After that, the teacher was fired and faced criminal charges. According to the indictment, the video contained "knowingly false information that disgraces the president."
As a result, judge Liudmila Mikhnevich of the Smarhoń District Court sentenced the former teacher to 18 months in a penal colony.
In October 2022, the KGB included the political prisoner in the 'List of persons involved in extremist activities'.
Andrei Piatrouski served his full sentence and was released from penal colony #2 (Babrujsk, Mahilioŭ region) in late January 2023.
